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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27322183">Put Our Faces to the Sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoungestThunderbird/pseuds/YoungestThunderbird'>YoungestThunderbird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Arcadia [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adoption, Angst, Background - Freeform, Chaoter 41: Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us Part 4, Chapter 10: Caleb and Stance’s Super Secret Lightsaber Lessons, Chapter 11: And the Strength of the Wolf is the Pack, Chapter 12: Why You Do Not Let R2-D2 Babysit, Chapter 13: What Is a Mandalorian, Chapter 14: Of Trabbits and Troopers, Chapter 15: The Hunter and the Hunted, Chapter 16: Because of Course They Need Symbols, Chapter 17: The Show Must Go On, Chapter 18: Tinker Tailor Soldier Jedi, Chapter 19: Call the Midwife, Chapter 1: How Cody Got His Name(s), Chapter 20: Tell Me a Story, Chapter 21: Jango’s Apology Tour, Chapter 22: Harden Your Heart, Chapter 23: Captains Colonels And Clones, Chapter 24: A Place and a People, Chapter 25: The Jungle Book, Chapter 26: A Day in the Life of Fox, Chapter 27: Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us Part 1, Chapter 28: The Naming of Alphas (Is a Difficult Matter), Chapter 29: Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us Part 2, Chapter 2: How to Keep the Next Generation Out of the Plumbing, Chapter 30: Friends in Low Places, Chapter 31: Joy Was Just a Thing That They Were Raised On, Chapter 32: Daisy Daisy, Chapter 33: For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow, Chapter 34: The Gambler(s), Chapter 35: Every Ghost That Calls Upon Us Part 3, Chapter 36: The Chaotic Lives of Echo and Fives, Chapter 37: Odds Are He Won’t Live to See Tomorrow, Chapter 38: State of the Republic, Chapter 39: Jedi: Risen Order, Chapter 3: The Commander’s Life is Hard, Chapter 40: I Dub Thee, Chapter 40: Something Blue, Chapter 4: Why You Do Not Let a Jedi Shadow Babysit Your Impressionable Padawan, Chapter 5: In the Jungle the Hostile Jungle the Padawan Sleeps Tonight, Chapter 6: How Han Got The Falcon Or Serial Adoption Is Contagious, Chapter 7: There and Back Again or Ahsoka’s Hiatus from the Jedi Order, Chapter 8: In Which the Jedi Order Does Not Forbid Hugs, Chapter 9: We Be of One Blood You and I, Disabled Character, Fluff, Forgot to change tags when I posted chapter, Found Family, Gen, Humor, Mandalorian Culture, Original Clone Cadets, Worldbuilding, a bit - Freeform, forgot to upload chapter title when I uploaded the chapter, one shot series, or at least I tried to make it funny, sorry - Freeform, warning:Kamino, whoops, will add more tags as chapters are added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:54:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>141,812</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27322183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoungestThunderbird/pseuds/YoungestThunderbird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Throughout the many twists, turns, and upheavals (both physical and emotional) in the Jedi and Clones’ lives, there remains one constant. Kids, be they Clone or Jedi, get into mischief.</p><p>(For those new to the Arcadia ‘Verse: You might want to read the previous installments of this series before this work. Things will make more sense that way.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alpha-17 &amp; CC-2224 | Cody, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Zatt, Boba Fett &amp; Han Solo, Boba Fett &amp; Jango Fett, CC-10/994 | Grey &amp; Kanan Jarrus, CC-2224 | Cody &amp; Jango Fett, CC-2224 | Cody &amp; Obi-Wan Kenobi, CT-1157 | Stance &amp; Sabine Wren, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo &amp; CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Cal Kestis &amp; Jaro Tapal, Colt &amp; Han Solo &amp; Boba Fett, Colt &amp; Shaak Ti, Depa Billaba &amp; CC-10/994 | Grey, Depa Billaba &amp; Kanan Jarrus, Firmus Piett &amp; Maximilian Veers, Firmus Piett &amp; Padmé Amidala, Hera Syndulla &amp; Sabine Wren, Jango Fett &amp; Original Clone Character(s), Kanan Jarrus &amp; Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Kanan Jarrus &amp; Sabine Wren, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Leia Organa &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Plo Koon, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Quinlan Vos, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Zatt, Padmé Amidala &amp; Leia Organa, Padmé Amidala &amp; Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Plo Koon &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Plo Koon &amp; CC-3636 | Wolffe, The Commander &amp; Cal Kestis, The Commander &amp; Jaro Tapal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Arcadia [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939405</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>780</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1056</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. How Cody Got His Name(s)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>How Cody Got His Name (yes, both of them), or<br/>Cody Starts His Droid-Punching Habits Early, Nearly Gives Alpha Conniptions In Front Of Jango.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys! I was working on The Land Under the Mountain (I still am! I promise! It’s just... going slowly, that’s all) when this plot bunny bit me and refused to let go. I eventually typed it down just to get out of my head. I was kind of hurting for a title, so I just typed down something nice-sounding. No reference this time. </p><p>Cody doesn’t get into trouble, much at least in this, but I also wanted this to be a series of one shots exploring background moments that may become important to character motivations later, or just being fluffy fun. I have two more installments planned, at least, though I hope to finish Land Under the Mountain first.</p><p>Edit: I wanted to get the notes to be chapter notes, not work notes, as it was getting confusing. Also, there were a couple grammatical and continuity errors that were bugging me in this chapter specifically. Sorry, it’s not new; but I did post a new chapter today! It’s about the Wolfpack, chapter 11.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jango watched the CC Cadets training with no emotion showing in his body language. It helped that he had his buy’ce (1) on to keep the rain off. He didn’t think he could keep his face as blank as he would want after seeing this display.</p><p>They were outside, on one of the massive training decks that the Kaminoans ran mock battles on. Today, Squadron 17 was fighting an overwhelming force of droids armed with stunners.</p><p>The goal of the exercise wasn’t to win. The droids outnumbered the cadets fifteen to one, and the cadets didn’t have enough ammunition to take all the droids out even if they didn’t miss a shot. The goal was to take as many of the enemy down with you as you could.</p><p>Squad 17, though, did not appear to have gotten the memo. They had shot every droid they could until they ran out of ammunition, then started to engage in hand-to-hand combat, using their rifles as clubs. CC-2227 had improvised a bayonet from one of the droid’s saw-arms. CC-2233 had started using its gun as a guthook, aiming for a vulnerable spot on the back of the droid and tearing wires out with its riflestock.</p><p>“What have you been feeding them?” He murmured to Alpha-17, who was standing next to him in perfect parade rest.</p><p>Jango was put off by the Alpha Clones. They were like droids with no social protocols, no experience with humans. Their voices were always flat, their faces always gave nothing away. It was eerie, to see his face with nothing behind the eyes. It was eerie even behind the helmet.</p><p>Alpha-17 responded in monotone, as it always did.</p><p>“This morning, the squad received issue-3 rations. The previous night, they received issue-2 rations. The previous morning-“ it recited, before Jango lifted his hand to cut it off.</p><p>“Rhetorical question, Alpha,” he sighed. The Alphas always took things incredibly literally. At least the CCs had received training on colloquialisms and figures of speech, to better work with natborns.</p><p>Jango’s eyes returned to the mock battle in front of him, observing the remaining members of the squad. About half were down, but the rest had reduced the enemy force to only forty or so droids, an impressive feat considering they started out facing 180. His eyes were drawn to one Cadet in particular.</p><p>The little thing was scrappy, near the middle of the droids and away from the protective huddle of its fellow cadets. It took down five droids in as many minutes, as Jango watched, but then its gun was yanked from its grip by a particularly canny droid and tossed over the side of the platform.</p><p>Jango shrugged, mentally. The thing had made a good go, and would be rated well in the combat assessment. Nothing for it, sometimes kark happens.</p><p>The CC, however, seemed to have something against giving up. It kept fighting. Unsurprising, Jango supposed, the Cadets were conditioned never to surrender. What was surprising, however, was that the Cadet didn’t look for a weapon. It simply jumped up and used its reinforced shin plate to kick the droid’s head clean off.</p><p>Jango blinked. Had he really just seen that?</p><p>By the time his eyes refocused on the distant Cadet, the little scrapper had punched another droid’s optical sensors out and used the its confusion to redirect the droid’s blaster to shoot two other droids. Jango blinked again.</p><p>The Cadet was taking three droids on at once when one got a hit in, a good one. The droid punched its helmet in, on the left side, making the Cadet fall. It laid on the ground for a moment, and Jango thought it was out. So did the droids, as they started to trundle on towards the knot of remaining cadets.</p><p>However, the Cadet rolled to its knees and launched himself at the one that had hit it, grabbing it from the back and ripping its wires out. It than sprang over to one of the other two.</p><p>Jango took a moment to talk to the Alpha again.</p><p>“What’s that Cadet’s designation?” He asked. The Cadet was too far away for Jango to make out the identifying number on its armor.</p><p>Had the Alpha always been standing so close to the observation window?</p><p>He must be imagining things.</p><p>“That’s CC-2224, sir,” came the reply, voice as monotone as ever. Jango turned back to the fight, only to see CC-2224 stagger a little as he took out the last droid standing with a kick. The klaxons blared, signaling the end of the exercise.</p><p>The remaining Cadets, of which there were four, immediately trotted toward the observation room, as they were supposed to. Jango and Alpha followed them, Alpha checking with the medical droids about where to pick up the rest of its squad after finishing debriefing.</p><p>The Cadets removed their buckets upon entering the room, as was regulation. CC-2224 had a little trouble removing its own, and upon removal it was immediately apparent that it had taken damage from that one hit.</p><p>Its outer left eye socket was a mess, with cuts from the shattered helmet readily apparent. Despite the obvious injury, and the pain that must go with it, it didn’t flinch.</p><p>Jango kept the debriefing short, the Cadet was obviously flagging and he wasn’t a monster. Even if it couldn’t feel, there was no reason to keep it in parade rest when injured.</p><p>He finished the briefing, but hesitated before dismissing the squad. He looked at CC-2224 again.</p><p>The thing was a mutant, one of the ones he’d had to force the Kaminiise (2) to let live.It seemed wasteful to throw out perfectly good fighters just because they were a different color.</p><p>This one didn’t have a hair mutation, but an eye one. Its eyes were gold, not the brown Jango saw in the mirror.</p><p>His sister had eyes like that.</p><p>“CC-2224, right?” He asked, and it nodded crisply.</p><p>He blamed sentimental memories for his next actions. He stepped forward and ruffled the thing’s hair. He could feel it tense; it was probably expecting a surprise combat drill.</p><p>“I’ll call you Kote (3),” he said thoughtfully.</p><p>It wasn’t real, he knew that. It was a computer that looked like a person. But, well, the way it fought, maybe the chip was a little loose. Maybe it had a little bit of personhood after all.</p><p>And maybe he just missed his sister.</p><p>He turned to the door and didn’t look back as he strode out to the hall. He missed his sister, but he still had Boba, and he’d been away from the kid much too often recently. Maybe he could make tiingilar for dinner tonight, and tell Boba stories about his Aunt Arla.</p><p>Maybe that would make the wrongness in his soul go away.</p><p>...</p><p>Alpha carefully did not stare at Fett as he walked out. The cadets did, but, well, it had been a long day with lots of twists. He’d nearly had a fit, himself, watching ‘24 go hand-to-hand with the training droids. He gave them a minute to compose themselves, and led them carefully out to the infirmary. The members of his squad that had been stunned were waking up, but the medics clucked and insisted ‘24 stay and get stitched up.</p><p>Alpha spared a moment to give thanks that the infirmary had been staffed by Clones for a while, and not Kaminoan Doctors. That was a stress his kids didn’t need at the moment. Speaking of kids, he looked over at ‘24 bring cowed by a Medic in Training Clone six inches shorter than him.</p><p>The kid could have one Hel of a scar, that was for sure. If he got bacta, the scar would be smaller, but bacta was too expensive for CCs to get.</p><p>He gathered up the rest of his squad, and took them back to their barracks via the communal sonic showers. ‘24 was definitely flagging, but perked up when the entered the barracks and he didn’t have to regulate his expression anymore.</p><p>“I have a name!” He all but shouted, mindful of his squadmates’ stun headaches. The rest of the kids crowded around him as he told what happened to him in the mock battle, and how Jango had ruffled his hair and named him after the briefing.</p><p>Alpha simply gave a curt nod when asked about the truthfulness of the story. He focused on keeping his face blank, and started encouraging the Cadets to go to bed. ‘24- Kote now, he’d have to remember- Kote was still smiling, and probably would be for a couple days in when he was in private.</p><p>Being named was a big event, and the last thing Alpha wanted to do was spoil it for the kid, so he simply gave the kid a quick hug and a ‘good job, don’t you ever do that again’ and sent him to his berth with the others.</p><p>When the kids were all tucked away in their berth-tubes for the night, Alpha sat on the edge of his own tube and carefully put his hands on his back in the parade rest that all the Alphas used to comfort themselves.</p><p>He didn’t cry. He was an Alpha, and Alphas were always all right. But he took a couple deep breaths that shuddered a little, and tried to beat down the desperate jealousy.</p><p>Jango Fett was larger than life to all the Clones, he was Prime. He also had everything Alpha wanted. He was allowed to name Alpha’s kids. He had a culture, and a language to name them with. He could ruffle their hair in public, and then he went home to his own kid and probably hugged him and cooked him dinner and no one ever objected.</p><p>Alpha had watched Jango with Boba, when Alpha was younger, trying to figure out how to handle his squad. He quickly learned that everything Jango did with Boba wasn’t applicable. His kids couldn’t cry in public like Boba could. Alpha couldn’t smile in public like Jango could.</p><p>It wasn’t fair. Alpha wanted to give his kids everything Boba had, but he never could. Instead of hugging them and encouraging them, he had to yell at them and run them through drills. Instead of giving them food that actually tasted good, he had to give them rations. Instead of names, he had to keep using their numbers.</p><p>He took a deep breath again, and started to get ready for bed himself. He’d just about finished removing his armor when there was a small knock on the wall.</p><p>Another shortcoming of his. He’d about pounded ‘05 through the floor once, when the kid was two, for waking him up. Alpha had immediately defaulted to his training; he’d forgotten where he was and thought it was a surprise combat assessment. He’d given ‘05 some pretty good bruises before he woke up enough to see what was going on.</p><p>He never forgot it, or forgave himself for that. Evidently the kids never forgot it either, because they always announced themselves before disturbing him at night.</p><p>He looked up to see ‘2- no, Kote, standing at the head of the retractable berth.</p><p>“It hurts, Alpha,” he said, his deepening voice cracking a little. Kark, his kids were growing up.</p><p>That thought shouldn’t hurt so much.</p><p>“C’mere, vod’ika (4),” he muttered, going through his field first aid kit for the analgesic cream.</p><p>He put some on Kote’s scar, trying to be gentle with the stitches. He rested his hand on the side of Kote’s head for just a second after he finished, and Kote leaned in ever so slightly. Then, the kid hugged Alpha quickly and returned to his berth.</p><p>Alpha stared after him, for a moment, and had to quickly hide a wondering smile. He curled up in his own berth, comforted a bit.</p><p>Jango Fett was larger than life to the clones; he might be able to name kids, and to give Boba hugs in public, and give food and clothes and care, but it was Alpha that Kote went to when he was hurting. It was Alpha that he hugged before bed. That had to count for something.</p><p>It counted for everything, to Alpha.</p><p>...</p><p>‘24 stood at attention in front of Alpha-17, even after he was dismissed. CT-7567 had already left, to prepare to meet General Skywalker, leaving him alone with Alpha. The older Clone looked at him blankly, absently rubbing the bandages under his armor. Alpha had been badly hurt. ‘24 didn’t like to see it.</p><p>“Is there anything else you need to know, Commander Kote?” Alpha said. ‘24 was heartened by the small inflection of Alpha’s voice; Alpha was starting to let himself act like a person. At the same time, though, he shuddered at the name Alpha addressed him with. It wasn’t his fault. ‘24 had given up his name when Alpha was deployed.</p><p>“It’s actually Commander CC-2224,” he corrected, “And I need advice.”</p><p>“The shooty end goes toward the other guy,” Alpha automatically replied, referring to an old in-joke of theirs. Then he blinked, processing the first part of the sentence.</p><p>“What about your name?” He asked, leaning forward in concern.</p><p>‘24 hung his head.</p><p>“I gave it up. Fett betrayed us, he tried to kill Jedi, he might even have tried to fight our brothers if they had shown up earlier,” he said, “I couldn’t keep my name after that.”</p><p>Alpha stepped a bit closer, and put his hands palm-up toward ‘24.</p><p>“That doesn’t mean you need to give up your name. It’s your name, not his name. You love your name,” Alpha replied.</p><p>“I just can’t, Alpha,” ‘24 shook his head.</p><p>He’d looked up to Jango. Which young Clone hadn’t? He was their progenitor, the Mand’alor, a fighter without parallel who had travelled the Galaxy. He’d even saved ‘24’s life. He would have been decommissioned right out of the decanting tube, if not for Jango, due to his golden eyes. Jango had taught them to fight. He’d even taught them some Mandalorian, some of his ancestor’s tongue.</p><p>And then he’d turned on them, and put himself firmly on the opposite side of everything the Clones had been taught to believe in and defend. It hurt ‘24 deeply.</p><p>Alpha must have understood some of his inner turmoil, because he put his hand on ‘24’s shoulder.</p><p>“Then I will not call you Kote. Is there anything else you would like to be called?” He said calmly.</p><p>‘24 just stared at him. It somehow hadn’t occurred to him to rename himself. He’d just wanted to retreat from the image of the ‘golden boy,’ away from ‘Fett’s favorite,’ into the anonymity of his number.</p><p>“That was what I wanted to ask you for,” he said before he could lose his nerve, “Can you name me?”</p><p>Alpha blinked at him, then gave a tiny, happy, wonder-filled smile.</p><p>“I’d love to name you, ‘24,” he said. He thought for a second.</p><p>“Kenobi has a baby name book available for the troopers to read and maybe name themselves from,” he said, considering.</p><p>‘24 was already starting to like his General, just from the way Alpha talked about him.</p><p>“Any good ones?” He asked, quietly.</p><p>Alpha gave him a hard look.</p><p>“And you assume I read it?” He sassed back.</p><p>Alpha always had been content with, well, ‘Alpha’ for a name. Squadron 17 had tried to nickname him Sevi after working a training mission with Squadron 28 and Tate, but Alpha never responded to it.</p><p>Alpha had redirected the focus of the conversation, though. He had read the book, but not for himself. He wanted to name someone else?</p><p>He wanted to name the Squad. Oh, Alpha.</p><p>“Did you overhear anything?” He said, deliberately nonchalant.</p><p>“Well, there’s Tristan,” Alpha said, “The clattering one. It would fit .”</p><p>‘24 gave him a mock offended look.</p><p>“I am not that bad!” He proclaimed. ‘24 had just gotten armor with a new antenna on it, and it had a bad habit of hitting doorways and walls.</p><p>“Aurelius,” Alpha suggested, “Golden.”</p><p>‘24 shook his head. He’d been singled out for his eyes a bit too much, he didn’t want to be named for them too.</p><p>“Cody,” Alpha returned, “Helpful.”</p><p>‘24 tilted his head in thought. Cody. It sounded enough like his old name that he’d respond to it easier, but it meant something different. He didn’t want glory, not like Jango thought. Not anymore. He just wanted to help his brothers.</p><p>He nodded to Alpha, who gave him another smile.</p><p>“Well then, Commander Cody,” He said, “You had better report to duty.”</p><p>Cody nodded, and gave his best salute to Alpha, who saluted back. He turned to the door, and went to find his future. It seemed brighter now.</p><p>Funny how talking to Alpha could make it seem that way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Reader poll: would you like to see more of Jango? He’s one of the ones that I adore as an interesting character but despise as a person. I’m trying to find a happy medium between ‘former leader of a people who love children as a cultural trait’ and ‘genetic progenitor who allowed his clones to be horribly abused.’ Tell me what you think! </p><p>1. Mandalorian: helmet<br/>2. Mandalorian: Kaminoans<br/>3. Mandalorian: strength, glory in battle<br/>4. Mandalorian: little brother, affectionately</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. How to Keep the Next Generation Out of the Plumbing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It all started with a thunking in the pipes.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! It’s nice to see you again! Metaphorically, anyway.<br/>This one was fun to write. I’m liking these shorts.<br/>I am working on the meta notes, I promise, I just need to get them typed down coherently. Coherency is good.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started with a knock on the wall. Obi-wan first heard it when he was doing paperwork with Cody in their office; though the war had stopped, they were still in charge of several thousand men and boys who needed supplies for eating, sleeping, and training.</p><p>While the Jedi had tried to convince their Clone friends and brothers that they did not need to train, their words had fallen on deaf ears. Many Clones believed that training was essential to a healthy lifestyle, and the skill-intensive lives of the Jedi only served to reinforce that notion. Some Clones took the opportunity provided by the huge amounts of free time they had on Dantooine to learn new skills or specialties, such as demolitions, communications, or infiltration. Obi-wan had even heard whispers of lightsaber classes.</p><p>Cody, himself, had expressed joy that his brothers were keeping busy. Cody was of the opinion that idle Clones were the Corellian Devil’s workshop. He’d spent too much time with Echo and Fives over at the 501st, probably.</p><p>It didn’t help that they were constructing temporary shelters for the winter as well. They were reusing metal from Tipoca again, building huge covered areas to keep the snow out of outdoor classes.</p><p>Obi-wan and Cody had been doing paperwork, drinking tea, and chatting lightly to each other for the last hour when Obi-wan heard the periodic thudding. It came and went, and often only lightly thudded the wall one or two times before going silent for several minutes.</p><p>Obi-wan and Cody ignored it until a rather large thunk jarred both of them from their place in the sheafs of flimsi they were going over.</p><p>“I definitely heard that,” Obi-wan said, continuing the winding conversation they had been having over the last fifteen minutes over whether the thuds were enough to get up for. Cody was already getting up.</p><p>It took a few more minutes to find the source of the thuds. It was a water main, one of the many pipes up to three feet in diameter that circulated water throughout the ship for temperature regulation, fire suppressant, cleaning, and drinking water. The mains were multi-purpose and contained basic unpotable water, though every faucet had a micro-purifier in it to make the water drinkable.</p><p>This pipe had an elbow corner in it, and every so often, one side of the corner or the other would thunk heavily. Cody was starting to look suspicious and resigned.</p><p>“I installed locks to prevent this,” he sighed. Obi-wan blinked at him. Cody just glared back.</p><p>“Your Padawan is aquatic, remember?” Cody snarked. Obi-wan blinked again. Cody might need to cut back on the tea, he was getting grouchy. The last thing Obi-wan needed was two Alphas on his hands.</p><p>“He has his activity room, we modified it for him,” he objected. Zatt’s room was actually an empty hangar bay, filled with water. It provided enough of an aquatic environment for the growing Nautolan to practice swimming and develop his lateral line (1), according to the Padawan Development Specialists.</p><p>The Padawan Development Specialists, or Padev, were a group of healers and pediatricians whose purpose was to ensure that Padawans that were different species from their Masters were healthy, from diet to habitat to protective gear. They’d been invaluable when Obi-wan first apprenticed Zatt. He had heard of them from Anakin and Ahsoka.</p><p>“And I’m sure the Albedo Brave has a nice room for Cal Kestis, too, but that doesn’t mean the Commander doesn’t look in the vents first when he needs to find the kid,” Cody snarked back.</p><p>Obi-wan had to concede the point, so they made their way to the nearest water main hatch. Obi-wan reached out with the Force, waited a minute, and- there! Cody sprang the hatch open and Obi-wan reached inside, quick as a flash. His hand found armor, and then a scruff-bar, so he hauled back to bring his catch into the hall.</p><p>It was not Zatt. It was a Clone Cadet, about Zatt’s size, wearing a scuba helmet much too big for him. It was comical, really, or it would have been if Obi-wan wasn’t so surprised.</p><p>Obi-wan blinked at the Cadet. Cody also blinked at the Cadet. The Cadet presumably blinked back, though it was hard to tell with the helmet.</p><p>Well. This was interesting.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody was just tired. He’d been doing paperwork, and then this. A long day looked to be getting longer.</p><p>“What the kark, Cadet?” He asked tiredly. From the markings on his armor, the kid was a little older than Zatt.</p><p>The kid straightened up and saluted, as best he could while hanging by his scruff-bar from Kenobi’s arm.</p><p>“Sir! Practicing aquatic recon, Sir!” The kid barked. It would have been cute, but Cody happened to know that he was not the one to issue the helmet, or order aquatic training. Which led to another problem.</p><p>“Where’d you get the bucket, kid?” He asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.</p><p>“102nd Scuba Corps, Sir!” Came the reply. That was Fisto’s outfit. Cody did not like where this was going.</p><p>“How did you get it?” He sighed.</p><p>The Cadet grinned a bit nervously.</p><p>“We’re to be Commander Morness’s men, right? We have to be able to keep up with him! So we asked the 102nd for lessons,” he explained.</p><p>Cody looked at Obi-wan, only to see the man hiding hurt in his eyes. He hated if Clones felt obligated to do anything for the Jedi.</p><p>Tough kark. There were some things the Clones had to do to keep the Jedi out of trouble.</p><p>“And why didn’t you ask me, Cadet?” Cody sighed again, “I would have signed off on it, with supervision.”</p><p>“That would have taken forever!” The Cadet claimed.</p><p>Obi-wan gently put the Cadet down, and bent to his level.</p><p>“What is your name, young one?” He asked gently.</p><p>“Kip, Sir,” The Cadet replied.</p><p>“You understand, Kip, that you don’t need to be Zatt’s subordinates? That you can be whatever you want to be?” Obi-wan probed.</p><p>Kip nodded.</p><p>“But we want to help him when he does Jedi Stuff! And we can’t keep up with him unless we know how to swim!” He objected.</p><p>There was another thunk in the pipes. Obi-wan and Cody exchanged aghast glances, before Obi-wan put Kip down, plunged his arm into the pipe, and fished out... another Clone Cadet.</p><p>Cody was just not surprised anymore at this point. He just put his face into his hand.</p><p>“How many cadets are in the water mains, Kip?” He resignedly asked. He didn’t know if he really wanted to know.</p><p>Kip shrugged.</p><p>“We started out with two squads, but some may have gotten out. I was getting tired,” he revealed matter-of-factly.</p><p>Cody heard Obi-wan groan next to him and wholeheartedly agreed.</p><p>“Kid,” Cody groaned a little himself, “Who signed off on this?”</p><p>“Alpha-17,” was the prompt reply.</p><p>Cody froze. Alpha had really signed off on this? Why didn’t he tell them? Why was he alright with Padawans in the water mains in the first place?</p><p>A thought occurred to them.</p><p>“Did you ask him before morning calisthenics?” He asked evenly.</p><p>The Cadets’ eyes widened.</p><p>“How did you know?” The unknown Cadet mumbled.</p><p>Cody sighed, both tiredly and reminiscently.</p><p>“Kid, Alpha-17 raised me. I pioneered the art of asking him for things before he woke up,” he replied.</p><p>He could feel Obi-wan’s raised eyebrow, but ignored him.</p><p>“You had a good idea, kids, but your execution was flawed, so I’m going to have to give you some kind of punishment detail,” he said. The Cadets drooped, but nodded.</p><p>“Three weeks of KP (2) for your squads in the Littles’ Mess,” Cody pronounced. Some of the Littles had yet to master getting food into their mouth and not everywhere else, so the mess needed cleaning every day.</p><p>The Cadets drooped further, but nodded again. Cody dismissed them and turned to Obi-wan.</p><p>“Well. As if we didn’t have enough to do already,” he sighed.</p><p>Obi-wan nodded in commiseration.</p><p>...</p><p>Three weeks later...</p><p>...</p><p>Zatt was excited. His Master said that he had a surprise for him! He did his best to walk slowly and decorously to his aquatic exercise room, but may have run just a little bit.</p><p>He slowed down by the time he got to where he was supposed to meet his Master, a viewing platform that air-breathers could use to watch him swimming or even jump in if they wanted.</p><p>Though the Cadets he was friends with always lost the ‘who can stay under competitions’ if he was competing. Which he didn’t. He didn’t tell them he won, anyway. A Jedi did not use his natural advantages to unfairly compete against others.</p><p>He straightened his robes a little, before he got to the door, and walked through it only to see much more people than he was expecting.</p><p>His Master, and Cody, and Alpha, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. Cadet Squads Delta-35 and Zeta-68, his friends that he had on ship. And Master Kit Fisto, and some of the men from the 102nd!</p><p>“Hi?” He said, confusedly. Cody just smiled at him. Alpha looked a bit less grouchy than usual. Master Fisto was grinning even wider than usual, and Monnk was also smiling hugely.</p><p>What was going on? It wasn’t his natal day, that was eight months ago.</p><p>“Zatt, you have very good friends,” his Master began, smiling.</p><p>Zatt nodded, because that was true. Kip and Pride and Ryder and the rest were the best.</p><p>“They have requested to begin training to swim with you,” his Master continued.</p><p>Zatt tilted his head in confusion. His friends already swam with him, even if they did lose breath-holding contests.</p><p>His Master pressed something into his hand. He looked at it; it was a waterproof ear comm, the kind Master Fisto wore, when he was on missions. It rested against his cheek and picked up vibrations from when he spoke in the water, so he could communicate with his men.</p><p>He looked back up questioningly. He didn’t have anyone to communicate with underwater. His Master nodded over to the Cadet squads.</p><p>His eyes tracked over, and widened. His friends were all holding breather helmets!</p><p>“I have invited the 102nd over to give you some tips on swimming as a unit,” Master said.</p><p>Impossibly, Master Fisto smiled even bigger.</p><p>“The first lesson I have for you, kiddos, is that your fellow swimmers are not good springboards, because not only do they move in the water when you try and push off them, they follow you around and try to exact revenge...” he began. Commander Monnk elbowed him in the side, but Master Fisto didn’t even flinch and continued his humorous lecture on tips for swimming with others. Then Commander Monnk stepped forward and did a less humorous lecture on water safety and how to tell is someone was having trouble.</p><p>Ryder and Ekko were fidgeting by the time they finished. Zatt wanted to fidget as well, but Jedi Padawans were decorous.</p><p>Finally, Commander Monnk finished his lecture. Zatt did not jam the earpiece on, but it was close. Some of his friends definitely jammed their helmets on, though most of them were grabbed by the scruff-bar and had the seal on their helmet checked before they jumped into the water.</p><p>Finally, though, they were allowed to get in. Zatt ran toward the water, stripped to his shorts and shirt, and jumped in, with the rest of his friends, making a huge splash. Jedi Padawans were decorous most of the time.</p><p>He started to swim with his friends all around him, and felt the 102nt get in as well. The older swimmers start to lead them through drills.</p><p>Best. Surprise. Ever!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Lateral lines are organs fish have. They detect changes in pressure and vibration in the water, and can provide fish with an idea of their surroundings even if they can’t see with their eyes. I figured it’d be a cool thing to give Nautolans.<br/>2. Kitchen Patrol/Preparation. Basically, cleaning duty</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Commander’s Life is Hard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cal and Cadet Fritz have been left unsupervised for a tad too long. For them, ‘too long’ is probably about five minutes.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Commander knew this day would come eventually. He had been dreading it for ages, and found that when it was here, he found it wasn’t any less terrifying than he thought it would be. Cal had finally cooked up more trouble than Skywalker.</p><p>He looked at the Jedi Padawan and Clone Cadet standing at attention in front of him and sighed. He knew they’d been too quiet over the last three days. He supposed he deserved it for not checking out what they were doing before.</p><p>He let his eyes drift to the half-finished roof that stretched between the Albedo Brave and the Edmund Fitzgerald, the next nearest Venator. It was their solution to the upcoming winter; the Venators had landed (or slowly crashed, in the Fitzgerald’s case, as it had suffered thruster malfunction; luckily, no one was hurt, but the ship would never fly again) in pairs, each about a half kilometer from each other, one member of the pair facing south and the other facing north. This left a large, rhombus-shaped space between them, which the Order was currently enclosing to use as training areas.</p><p>He sighed, and stared at the reason he had Cal and Fritz in front of him at the moment. He was pretty sure Tapal should be here to help, but no, the lucky barve had been put on a mission three days ago and had yet to return.</p><p>It looked fairly innocuous at first. It was a cable that stretched from just below the bridge of the Brave across to the forward gunnery compartment of the Fitzgerald, hanging slightly under the roof. It was tilted slightly, due to the change in elevation of the two locations, but was otherwise near-indistinguishable from the construction debris around the site.</p><p>Until, of course, two whooping troublemakers decided to take spare pulleys from the construction site and zip down it like their were at some amusement park instead of a monastic enclave.</p><p>Commander sighed. No help for it.</p><p>“Alright, you two. What the kark?” He said. He knew he would regret asking, but it had to be done. He’d never keep up with them if he didn’t know what their thought processes were.</p><p>“It takes a long time to walk from the Brave to the Fitzgerald,” Cal started.</p><p>Commander leveled a look at him.</p><p>“It takes ten minutes,” He deadpanned.</p><p>“But that’s forever!” Fritz moaned.</p><p>“So you did something about it,” The Commander sighed, “Care to tell me your methods so I know how much of a heart attack I should have?”</p><p>He got two innocent stares. Oh no.</p><p>“Well, we aren’t using ascension guns much anymore,” Cal began, evenly.</p><p>Oh no.</p><p>“Ascension gun cables are only two hundred meters long. That cable is at least six hundred. Try again,” Commander replied, keeping his voice even.</p><p>Fritz shrugged.</p><p>“The Fitzgerald was preparing for an urban campaign when it was sent to Kamino. There are at least twelve spools of replacement ascension gun cable in the cargo bay, and each spool is about a kilometer long. We put the rest back when we got what we needed!” He objected.</p><p>“How did you know this?” The Commander said wearily, “You’re an Albedo Brave Cadet.”</p><p>“No, I’m a Fitzgerald Cadet,” Fitz gestured to the somewhat smudged symbol on his armor, which could be the stylized astronomical globe of the Brave or the, well, also stylized navigational globe of the Fitzgerald.</p><p>The Commander wondered if he could get the ships to redesign their symbols to be totally distinct from each other. It would prevent these problems.</p><p>“Alright, you two, show me what you modified to get this done,” he said wearily.</p><p>He was not looking forward to this.</p><p>...</p><p>Master Jaro Tapal was somewhat surprised when he saw the Commander waiting for him at the landing pad when he disembarked.</p><p>He was less surprised to see the absolutely done expression on his Commander’s face. Oh dear. What had Cal done this time?</p><p>“Your Padawan is a menace,” Commander told him tiredly, “You couldn’t have chosen a bookworm?”</p><p>This was a common greeting between them, especially since Cal had discovered the vents in the ship as a way to get around.</p><p>“What’d he do this time?” Jaro replied. They started walking from the ad-hoc spaceport, which was really a flat field where most of the smaller craft were parked, toward the Albedo Brave.</p><p>The Commander sighed.</p><p>“In additional to the usual risking of life, limb, and my sanity, he’s started a fad,” he replied.</p><p>Oh no.</p><p>“I perhaps did not give him enough homework,” Jaro murmured.</p><p>“No, you did not. It’s partly my fault, I didn’t give the cadets enough to do either,” Commander consoled.</p><p>That didn’t bode well. Cal was bad enough on his own, but at the logical tactical mindset the Cadets were trained to think with to Cal’s semi-controlled chaos, and you got, well, more chaos.</p><p>They passed the Resolute-and-Negotiator, the two ships had been some of the first to have the huge metal roof extended between them. However, there was a huge garage door rolled up on the side, and excited yelling emerged from within.</p><p>“This is probably the best example,” the Commander sighed.</p><p>He gestured for Jaro to follow him slightly inside the door, and then pointed up.</p><p>The was a zip-line, from the bridge of the Negotiator to the forward gunnery compartment of the Resolute. Happily shrieking cadets were flying down it.</p><p>Jaro heard shrieks from the other end of the huge space, and looked to see another line extending at the opposite end of the bay, from the Resolute’s bridge to the Negotiator’s guns.</p><p>“This was Cal’s idea?” Jaro said, with rising dread. The Commander sighed.</p><p>“Cal’s and Fritz’s,” he affirmed.</p><p>“Is it safe?” Was Jaro’s next question. The Commander nodded again, tiredly.</p><p>“That’s the frustrating part. They built this thing to confirm to safety specifications for a theme park on Coruscant. The lines are rated to hold a tank, and they’re secured directly to the ships themselves. They somehow secured them by tying the cables in cable-slip knots, then splicing the lines with the Force and then putting multiple pressure fittings over the spliced site. They aren’t coming loose until the Venators fall over,” the Commander said.</p><p>“Are you sure?” Jaro couldn’t help but ask.</p><p>“I tested the first one myself, with an old fighter hulk,” The Commander said gloomily, “The knots only tightened and made the whole thing sturdier.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you take it down?” Jaro sighed.</p><p>“I was going to, but the thing got enormously popular with Padawans, Cadets, and Knight Skywalker,” The Commander replied.</p><p>A rather deeper yell than the Cadet’s shrieks went overhead.</p><p>“And the rest of the 501st,” the Commander added, as Jaro squinted up at a blue-and-white armored figure.</p><p>They resumed walking toward the Brave, Jaro feeling more tired than he was when he stepped off the ship.</p><p>“What punishment duty did you give Cal and Fritz?” He asked, idly.</p><p>“No duty. They just aren’t allowed to ride the zip line for a month,” The Commander replied.</p><p>The Commander was quite possibly smirking evilly under his helmet. Jaro nodded, giving a small smirk himself. He saw the Brave come into sight and began to perk up a little bit.</p><p>“There’s just one thing left to do, I suppose,” he said consideringly. The Commander nodded beside him.</p><p>“Way ahead of you, Sir,” he said, handing Jaro a pulley harness.</p><p>Good man, the Commander, Jaro smirked to himself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos to you if you know why I wrecked the Edmund Fitzgerald! It’s also a clue to my naming scheme for the Venators ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Why You Do Not Let a Jedi Shadow Babysit Your Impressionable Padawan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In Where Youth and Laughter Go, Obi-wan mentions that he caught Quinlan teaching Anakin to pick locks. I couldn’t resist writing the scene.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It’s a short one today, folks. I’ve had a lot of fun over the last few days, with being able to update every day, but I’m probably going to have to slow down or stop soon. I have a big move coming up. I should be back in a month, though I have no clues what my life will look like then, but I do have more ideas I want to write.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jedi Temple</p><p>About eleven years before Exodus Flight</p><p>...</p><p>Knight Obi-wan Kenobi has a bad feeling about this. This in itself was not unusual; he had many bad feelings on missions, usually because his missions tended to go sideways quickly. A Jedi did not crave excitement, but sometimes excitement found them anyway. A lot of the time, in Obi-wan’s case.</p><p>It was, however, novel and somewhat worrying experiencing a sense of dread as he returned to his quarters. In this case, he didn’t need the Force to tell him what may have gone wrong. He knew perfectly well.</p><p>He’d left his eleven-year-old Padawan (little brother) alone with Quinlan Vos.</p><p>He had no other choice. The Masters wouldn’t let Obi-wan leave Anakin in the crèche, saying that a child old enough to be a Padawan could be left alone for a time. They had never seen the results of that idea, and as such didn’t know exactly how horrible it was. Quinlan was his only available Padawan-sitter; all of his other, more responsible friends were either on missions, on duty in Temple, or laid up in the healing ward.</p><p>Poor Garen. Who knew something so fuzzy and cute-looking could be so disagreeable? And have such sharp claws?</p><p>Well, Obi-wan did, due to a long and eventful apprenticeship with Master Qui-gon Jinn and his parade of Pathetic Life Forms, but that was not the point.</p><p>The point was, he had been forced to leave Anakin with Quinlan Vos for a period of two hours while he briefed a team of Jedi on a planet he had previously run a mission on during his apprenticeship with Master Jinn. He was slightly surprised the Temple was still standing, and that he didn’t smell smoke.</p><p>It wasn’t that he didn’t love Quinlan as his brother, or trust him with his life, and Anakin’s life as well, which was even more precious. It was that Quinlan was a Knight Umbra, or a Jedi Shadow, and knew a lot things that kids shouldn’t. Worse, he loved to teach Anakin the things kids shouldn’t know, like how to avoid cameras and skip class undetected.</p><p>Obi-wan’s life was not easier for these things. Luckily, after a long talk and an apology from Quinlan, Anakin understood why he needed to go to class now, and went at least often enough that the teachers didn’t complain to Obi-wan.</p><p>He rounded the corner to see both Anakin and Quinlan crouched in the hall, concentrating on the front door to Obi-wan and Anakin’s rooms.</p><p>The bad feeling increased.</p><p>Obi-wan put up the special stealth shields that Quinlan had taught him, and used the Force to lighten his footsteps. He glided silently toward the two, only to have his fears confirmed; Quinlan had taken the automatic opening system off the door and was teaching Obi-wan’s eleven-year-old Padawan to pick the failsafe mechanical lock.</p><p>He gently pulled out his holocomm, stopped behind him, and took a holo. Then, he couldn’t resist; he cleared his throat.</p><p>Quinlan and Anakin spun around with identical expressions of surprise and chagrin; and he couldn’t resist taking another holo. That one was going on his projector.</p><p>“Quinlan, what have I said about teaching Anakin skills that I would regret later?” He asks, half-irritatedly and half-teasingly.</p><p>Quinlan gives a wide smile.</p><p>“Not to?” He replies, inflected like a question even though both of them know karking well it was a fact.</p><p>“And Anakin, what have I told you about doing things Quinlan does?” Obi-wan groaned. Anakin blinked up at him innocently.</p><p>“But Master! This way I can help you on missions!” Anakin insisted.</p><p>Obi-wan closed his eyes. Anakin absolutely hated when he was left behind if Obi-wan went on a mission deemed too dangerous for a Junior Padawan. He insisted he could feel Obi-wan’s peril in the Force. Obi-wan couldn’t contradict him, knowing how strong Anakin was in the Force.</p><p>“Padawan, you have at least a year to go until you are able to take dangerous missions,” he said gently, “Whether you learn unauthorized skills from Quinlan or not. Please, have patience, it will come eventually.”</p><p>Anakin just huffed at him, but nodded. Obi-wan smiled at him.</p><p>“Alright, Anakin, why don’t you go to your mechanics class,” he suggested. Anakin would be a half-hour early, but he liked to tinker before lecture started.</p><p>“Yippee!” Anakin started running off down the hallway.</p><p>“And you...” Obi-wan turned to a sheepish Quinlan, “Are not to teach him anything else that you use in your career as a Shadow, or else.”</p><p>Quin nodded, and ambled down the opposite direction of the hall. He was careful not to let it look like a retreat, but it was.</p><p>Those two...</p><p>Obi-wan sighed, and entered his apartment. There was a vacuum flash on the counter, with a sticky flimsi on the side with his name on it. Inside was a cup of tea, perfectly brewed, and still steaming gently.</p><p>Oh, those two.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. In the Jungle, the Hostile Jungle, the Padawan Sleeps Tonight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Felucia Campaign mentioned in Kanan Bound.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So it turns out that plot bunnies will not stop chewing on my brain just because I’m packing and moving heavy boxes. My update schedule will be erratic; despite the bunnies’ efforts, my free time is still limited.</p><p>Warning: Discussion of war themes, a child is thought dead offscreen in the first part (but he survives)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a dark night. Depa wished it wasn’t, that it was a bright day and all the things that had happened in the last week were a nightmare, but she knew otherwise. She sighed, and did not keep the tears from trickling down her cheeks. No nightmare could be this horrible.</p><p>They were on Felucia, possibly the most hated planet in the Republic by the GAR. Depa was starting to hate it too.</p><p>There had been a battle the day before yesterday. A typical Felucia battle; everything had gone wrong. Caleb had been with Stance’s squad, scouting near the edge of the column. There had been an ambush, droids had popped out of the jungle and started firing on the opposite flank. Naturally, the column had retreated to regroup, only to discover a mine field.</p><p>The last thing Depa had heard of Caleb, he was running directly into the mines with Stance and his brothers. There had been an explosion, and confused chatter over the radio, and that was the last anyone had heard of her Padawan.</p><p>No one had seen Stance’s squad, or Caleb, since. The column had been forced to keep moving by the droids and locals. Local tribes were hostile to the Republic, with a special hatred for Jedi. Any being in a long robe was shot on sight.</p><p>They had a rudimentary sense of the Force, too, so Caleb and Depa’s bond had been closed since they arrived in the sector. She couldn’t feel anything from him. She told herself that it was because the bond was still closed, but it was getting harder to believe it.</p><p>Grey had lost hope, she knew. His eyes had gone dead this past day. He’d been- he was, fond of Caleb. She would not believe Caleb was- gone, until she had seen it.</p><p>Force, she hoped she never saw it.</p><p>She walked past the armory tent, and heard a small noise inside. The column had stopped for the night, and no one was supposed to be there, so she looked inside with her hand on her lightsaber. It would be catastrophic if the Sepratists took their weapons.</p><p>It was Grey. Her Commander was still in his armor, battered and muddy though it was, but was going through another set of armor that was laid on the small table used for polishing and repairing weapons in the lulls between attacks.</p><p>The suit was shiny, white and new. But it was small, smaller than the standard-issue Clone armor. It had less pieces, as well, and seemed to be modeled somewhat on the armor the Jedi wore, with less armor around the joints. A small chest plate, a back plate, shoulder pieces, knee guards, forearm and shin guards, a tiny kama, and a helmet. Depa recognized the helmet as a repainted Cadet’s helmet, from Kamino.</p><p>Oh, Grey. He’d groused so much about getting Caleb armor.</p><p>Grey was carefully cleaning and checking each piece, though they really didn’t need to be cleaned. They’d never been worn.</p><p>Her Padawan would get the chance to wear them, Depa promised herself. Even if she had to leave the column to get him back. Grey would understand.</p><p>Grey had finished cleaning the armor when Depa shook herself from her reverie, but stayed in the tent with his hand in the chest plate. He took the helmet up, with a hand that shook a little in the moonlight, and bumped it gently against his forehead like Depa had seen him do with his brothers.</p><p>Then he put it gently back down, like it was something fragile, made of Nabooan spun glass, not plastoid. He picked up the chest plate next, and hugged it to himself. His shoulders started to shake.</p><p>Depa turned away. This was private. Grey would not appreciate her interrupting his grieving, even if it was her Padawan he was grieving for.</p><p>He is mourning prematurely, she reminded herself, Caleb is not dead. Trust in the Force.</p><p>The Force was getting harder and harder to trust every day.</p><p>...</p><p>Grey watched with dull eyes as Styles made the reports for that day. It had been three days since Caleb was gone. Grey knew better than to hope that he would come back. That kind of thing just didn’t happen, not after this long, not here. He was just setting himself up for heartbreak.</p><p>If only he’d given the kid his armor sooner, he might still be here.</p><p>‘If only’s would not win the war. He forced himself to pay attention to his brother, only to have his report interrupted.</p><p>There was a commotion on the edge of camp. Shouting, brothers running. Grey trusted his brothers to handle whatever it was until he saw the General flat-out sprinting to the place where most of the yelling was coming from.</p><p>He and Styles exchanged glances, picked up their blasters, and followed her. It must be another ambush.</p><p>It wasn’t an ambush. It was a rather bedraggled-looking group of shinies stumbling out of the jungle, covered in mud and bits of the local flora. Only one of them had a full set of armor. Brothers were converging on their location, slinging dirty arms over strong shoulders and shepherding them to the medics.</p><p>The General had made a beeline directly to the one soldier with a full set of armor. She threw her arms around him, regardless of the mud and bits of smelly leaves that covered the man.</p><p>He didn’t know the General was that close to any of the men, he thought dully. He was shocked when the General took the vod’s helmet off, only to reveal it wasn’t a vod at all.</p><p>It was Caleb.</p><p>Caleb was alive! His Commander, his kid, was alive!</p><p>Grey made an aborted step forward, and stopped himself. It wasn’t his place to hug Caleb like he wanted to. Besides, the kid needed medical attention. He waved one of the medics over to look at him.</p><p>The squad had miraculously escaped with only a few broken bones, including Caleb’s arm. They were, however, dead on their feet. The medics shepherded the squad, including Caleb who seemed reluctant to let them out of sight, over to the Sonics. The kids showered and changed into new black, then had ration bars tossed at them. Once they’d eaten, the medics made noises about sleep.</p><p>The General started to shepherd the Commander to their tent, but the kid had latched on to Stance’s arm, and followed the squad to the collapsible barracks. The troopers tiredly pulled the blankets and mattresses off the uncomfortable barracks, then piled together like Cadets. Caleb made to step away, once he’d seen the men safe, but Stance pulled on his good arm in turn, and guided him into the center of the pile like he belonged there.</p><p>Perhaps he did.</p><p>He was out like a light as soon as he laid down. The General, who had followed the kids along with Grey, gave a small but genuine smile.</p><p>“I’ll keep watch,” Grey promised her, and she nodded. However, she settled right next to him anyway, in that meditation pose that she insisted was comfortable. It didn’t look it. They sat like that until the kids roused themselves again, just happy that their boys were alive.</p><p>Stance stirred first, at the edge of the pile. He crawled out, careful not to disturb any of the other boys, and sat in front of Grey quietly.</p><p>“Can you give it to him now?” He asked, still quiet. Stance knew about the armor. He’d helped paint it shiny white instead of Kamino-red. Grey had figured out from other Commanders that the greater sentimental association the armor had, the greater chance it would be worn.</p><p>Depa eyed him out of the corner of her eyes, but stayed silent. Grey nodded.</p><p>“You’ll be the one to give it to him, though,” he said evenly. He had no right to feel as close to that kid as he did. Maybe if Stance gave his Commander his armor, he would be able to distance himself.</p><p>Stance lit up. He waited impatiently for the rest of the squad to wake, and then took hold of Caleb’s arm again and led him to the armory. Grey followed, picking up Styles and a parade of other brothers in the way.</p><p>Stance and the squad produced the armor, and then showed an amazed Caleb how to put it on. The kid complied, enthusiastically. Grey could feel his heart melting; he remembered how important he felt when he first got his armor.</p><p>The kid turned to them and smiled, wearing everything but the helmet. Grey couldn’t help himself; he stepped forward and folded the kid into a hug.</p><p>His helmet was still on, luckily, so he could say what he had wanted to since the kid had come back.</p><p>“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa’ad, Caleb,” he murmured, into the open comm channel, but with his speakers off. He wanted the kid to be the best Jedi he could be, and Jedi couldn’t be adopted. The rest of his brothers murmured a recognition.</p><p>He stepped back, and retrieved a pot of paint from the armory shelf. It was the red of their legion. He’d say Caleb has earned the right to wear it.</p><p>“Congratulations, kid,” he said, with speakers on this time, “You’ve earned it.”</p><p>The smile he got in return almost made everything okay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The Mandalorian words that Grey tells Caleb are the Mandalorian Adoption Vow, or Gai Bal Manda.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. How Han Got the Falcon, or, Serial Adoption Is Contagious</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There are some things that don’t change between universes. Han gets into trouble, meets Lando Calrissian, and gets his beloved Falcon; only this time, he’s much younger, and he has backup with him. <br/>Boba and Colt aren’t nearly so enthused about this. Well, Colt isn’t. Boba is just along for the ride.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Note: I personally enjoyed the Solo movie, but I can’t use it for several reasons, mostly due to Han’s changed circumstances, differing timeline, and the fact that L3-37 flirting with Lando was quirky yet acceptable when Lando is 21 but rapidly dives into creepy when Lando is 14.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Colt wondered where he’d gone wrong. He tried to be a good big brother! He tried to set a good example! He tried to make good choices!</p><p>And yet, here he was. Looking down at Han, Boba, and their new friend/mortal enemy, all of them standing in a pile of junk that he’s honestly surprised would fly.</p><p>The day had started so simply.</p><p>He’d gone with Buir, Boba and Han on a supply run to Corellia. He suspected their reasons for wanting to go on a supply run were less then upstanding, but as long as they picked up the stuff they needed, he would look the other way when they brought the sweets and fireworks into the ship.</p><p>After all, he’d just trained them to operate a mortar. It couldn’t be that much more dangerous.</p><p>They’d left Buir to buy some more supplies and gone to a cantina, one on the seedier side of town, to eat some lunch. Colt had to admit, the food was better than he expected. Better than he was used to, at least. Though it really didn’t take much effort to be better than rations.</p><p>Han had wandered into a game of Sabaac in the corner, betting some spare ship parts he’d traded Boba for. Colt watched the game warily, and noticed another boy around Han’s age playing. He was darker-skinned than the Clones, and acted suavely despite his somewhat raggedy clothes. He gave Han an insincere smile as he dealt in, but his body language wasn’t aggressive.</p><p>What Colt was worried about was one of the men playing against them. Most of the men at the table looked seedy but not overly dangerous; smugglers, mostly, and a couple petty thieves. But one man had clothes much too rich for the setting, and everybody was avoiding him.</p><p>He was working on unobtrusively drifting over to the table, and had just gotten within earshot, when the richly-dressed man let out a deafening bellow.</p><p>“You little cheat!” He yelled, and Colt thought he meant Han for a moment and his heart was suddenly in his throat. But he didn’t reach for Han, instead grabbing the wrist of the dark-skinned boy and shaking a Sabaac card from his sleeve.</p><p>“Let him go!” Han yelled, bringing Boba over. Boba had been watching much the same as Colt was, though being less subtle about it. The rest of the cantina was rapidly emptying. That wasn’t a good sign.</p><p>“Why should I? This little cheat needs to work off his debt to me!” The man growled. He jerked the boy again.</p><p>“He can pay back his winnings and forfeit his bet,” Boba said evenly, “That will more than cover his debt, and he can walk away with a lesson learned.”</p><p>Colt began moving closer to his brothers, but was suddenly blocked by the man’s bodyguards.</p><p>“You two care about him so much, you can join him,” The man threatened. Colt started to struggle against the guards, but they were built like cooling units and grabbed his arms.</p><p>He could break their grip, but decided to save it for a last resort. He was expecting to be escorted out, not shoved behind Boba and Han and forced to his knees. He discretely activated the panic signal in his helmet.</p><p>“And so can your friend,” The man grinned nastily.</p><p>“Wait!” Han blurted. The man raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“I... challenge you to a game of Sabaac for our freedom!” Han obviously improvised.</p><p>Colt stifled the urge to facepalm. The man just chuckled.</p><p>“And what could you offer me that I can’t just take?” He asked. Han visibly blanked.</p><p>“A Firespray cruiser,” Boba offered, calmly. Han and Colt whipped wide eyes to him.</p><p>“It’s not I’ll be using it, if we lose,” Boba shrugged, but Colt could see the fear and desperation in his eyes. For Boba, that ship near-represented his dad.</p><p>Did Boba not understand that Buir was coming to rescue them?</p><p>“And what’s to stop my from taking it?” The boss, because Colt was becoming more and more sure this man was a crime boss, asked idly.</p><p>“The self-destruct sequence. You try to get in with an unauthorized code, the entire shipyard gets blown into the stratosphere,” Boba grinned proudly.</p><p>Colt really hoped he was bluffing. He’d ridden in the Slave, and Boba was still too enthusiastic in takeoff and landing to make Colt comfortable with the idea of sitting on explosives during the process.</p><p>The boss just laughed.</p><p>“Alright, kid, let’s have it. Your cruiser for your freedom. And because I’m so generous, I’ll even add in the winnings from last round,” he said, and swept his arm as he sat at the table. The game was on.</p><p>...</p><p>Lando looked at the weird offworlders in disbelief. They obviously weren’t from around here.</p><p>They were wearing armor, for starters. Beat-up armor, but the man was wearing a helmet, breastplate, shoulder pieces, arm pieces, and some on the legs. The kids were just wearing arm pieces. And they’d tried to stop Mirdo Ord, the biggest new crime boss in town! They were crazy!</p><p>The mouthy kid was near-wrestled into the seat by the bodyguards, while the man was still securely held down. The other kid, the one who bet the ship, stood next to the man quietly, but his dark eyes were watching everyone in the room.</p><p>The game was tense. Both players were fairly even, exchanging cards with the floating deck in the center for tense minutes as the dealer-droid ticked up numbers. Finally, it was time to reveal their fates and the hands each player had been dealt. Mirdo went first.</p><p>“Pure Sabaac,” Mirdo called smugly, laying down his cards. They indeed added up to -23. They were doomed.</p><p>But the kid, the kid just smirked.</p><p>“Idiot’s Array,” Han said confidently, laying down his cards.</p><p>“Why you- you must have cheated!” Mirdo growled. Han rolled down his sleeves, still smirking. His arms had no card racks.</p><p>“Get him!” Mirdo howled. The kid’s eyes widened. Did he really think Mirdo would follow through on the deal?</p><p>Apparently his friends were more cynical. The man broke the hold of the two bodyguards holding him, knocking them out quickly. The boy pulled out a concealed blaster and started shooting.</p><p>Lando decided to get behind them. They seemed to know what they were doing.</p><p>The kid at the table was watching for Mirdo, who had vanished in the way all cowards do when confronted with danger. He was attempting to turn the table onto its side as a barrier. Lando helped, and all of them jumped onto the other side as soon as it was tipped.</p><p>Lando pocketed a couple of the more valuable items on the floor next to him, scattered when the table tipped. The other three concentrated on the blaster fight they were having with Mirdo’s men. They appeared to be winning.</p><p>The brown-haired kid ducked beside him, trying to keep out of his friends’ way. He jerked, and took his hand off the floor. A holokey to a ship had apparently poked him. He scooped it up, the lucky kark, and turned to Lando.</p><p>“Does this place have a back door?” He asked, yelling over the blaster shots. Lando nodded.</p><p>“I’ll show you the way out!” He said.</p><p>He could tell them easily, too, but if he was with them, he was less likely to be shot. If he told them, they might leave him behind. The brown-haired kid nodded, and yelled the plan to black-haired kid and helmet guy.</p><p>They made a break for it and ended up in the small shipyard behind the establishment. The brown haired kid paused, very briefly, did a double take, and started booking it toward a YT-1300.</p><p>“This way!” He shouted to the other two, who abruptly turned and followed him.</p><p>Lando decided to stick with them. It had worked out so far.</p><p>The kid used the holokey to open the ship, and Lando darted through with the other two offworlders. The kids made a beeline toward the cockpit, while the man concentrated on getting the ramp closed.</p><p>The ship started up and started moving, and Lando watched the man finally relax. He walked over to the cockpit and poked his head in.</p><p>“Get us to the slave!” He yelled. The brown-haired kid piloting shouted an affirmative.</p><p>Slave? What kind of people had he fallen in with?!</p><p>He tensed, and watched the man warily. Luckily, he didn’t make a move for the rest of the flight, and they landed quickly.</p><p>...</p><p>Shaak was incredibly worried. She’d gotten the panic signal from Colt, but she’d been on the other side of town. She immediately started running, jumping onto the low roofs and using the Force to augment her speed to get around traffic.</p><p>And then Colt’s tracker started moving. Too fast to be running; he’d gotten into a ship. She pushed herself even faster, calculating the trajectory. It was headed toward the Slave. Worst case scenario, she could reach the Slave and use the heavily-armed Firespray to pursue the ship her family was in.</p><p>She got to the shipyard just as the tracker stopped moving and a battered YT-1300 landed next to the Slave. She drew her lightsaber as the ramp lowered, and started to quietly stalk into the ship.</p><p>She heard Colt’s voice first, muffled by the dented helmet he wore to disguise his identity as a Clone.</p><p>“You’re not allowed to play Sabaac anymore, kih’vod (1),” he called. Hs voice was beginning to catch. What had happened?</p><p>She peered around the hatch to see Han and Boba come out of the cockpit and be engulfed in Colt’s hug. Likely they’d already escaped danger, then.</p><p>There was a third boy, around Han’s age, trying to sneak out. He froze when he saw her, eyes fixed in her lit lightsaber. She immediately extinguished it and put it away.</p><p>“Hello, young one,” she said calmly, stepping over to her son and his brothers.</p><p>“Buir,” Colt greeted in relief, though he made no attempt to let go of either Han or Boba.</p><p>Boba’s eyes went wide at the sight of her, and then he smiled in wonder. She wondered what he was thinking about.</p><p>“You their dad or something?” The unknown child asked, still edging toward the exit.</p><p>“Older brother,” Colt corrected absently.</p><p>“Brother hen,” Han murmured, and Boba snickered. Colt ignored them, and tilted his helmet toward Shaak.</p><p>“She’s my mom,” he elaborated.</p><p>“You don’t look anything alike,” the child said doubtfully, and looked at Shaak.</p><p>“You their owner?” He continued bluntly.</p><p>Colt jerked.</p><p>“No!” He aid forcefully, “She’s my mother, where did you get an idea like that?”</p><p>“You said to go back to the slave,” the child said, almost to the door.</p><p>He was trying to goad Colt, Shaak realized, to give the boys time to escape. Clever, and good hearted. She started to have a suspicion.</p><p>“The Slave I,” Boba enunciated carefully, “Is the name of the Firespray-class cruiser outside.”</p><p>He gently tried to break from Colt’s hug, but did not succeed.</p><p>“You ever see a Jedi that was a slaver?” He continued, “Because Shaak’s a real Jedi, a bleeding heart if there ever was one. She and Colt,” he tilted his head to indicate his older brother, “Took me in when all I ever did was insult them and try to be their enemy. She took Han in,” another indicative tilt of the head, “When he’d stripped their ship down to the airframe.”</p><p>“I had help!” Han objected. Boba ignored him.</p><p>“None of us are here under duress, though I could use the ability to breathe, Colt. She even came to rescue us, when we were in trouble,” Boba finished, with that same wonder-filled smile. Did he really think she wouldn’t come? Maybe she needed to spend more time with Boba.</p><p>Colt finally let go, posture sheepish. Han brushed himself off and turned to the unknown child, who had frozen just outside the door.</p><p>“You got a family, kid?” He asked. The child shook his head in a negative, but seemed indignant.</p><p>“Don’t call me kid, you’re younger than I am!” He said.</p><p>Shaak’s suspicion increased.</p><p>Han and Boba looked at each other.</p><p>“You want to come with us?” Han asked. The child shook his head again, more hesitantly this time. Han and Boba exchanged a glance again, and Han shrugged.</p><p>He stepped forward, holding a holokey for the freighter in his hand.</p><p>“I have a proposition for you,” he said, trying to swagger and mostly falling short. Though he would likely be quite the lady killer in a few more years, may the Force preserve her.</p><p>He held out the holokey to Lando.</p><p>“You help me pilot this ship to our destination, and we pay you a tenday’s food and lodging. After that, you can choose to stay or go. We’ve got a cargo freighter that comes every tenday, you can catch a ride on that,” he offered.</p><p>Shaak’s suspicion was confirmed. She’d had a feeling that the child was coming home with them, though she assumed Colt would take initiative.</p><p>The child started to back up again.</p><p>“You almost had me,” He said, “But it just seems too good to be true, so it probably is.”</p><p>Han sighed, and tossed the holokey to the child.</p><p>“If you feel unsafe at any time, you can fly out,” he said, “But if not, you have to give that back!”</p><p>The ship was Han’s? Oh dear.</p><p>The child looked at the key, and then at the boys. He thought for a moment, and then looked at them all again.</p><p>“I don’t even know your name,” he said, uncertainly.</p><p>“Jedi Master Shaak Ti,” she responded promptly.</p><p>“Commander Colton Seeci, call me Colt,” her son added.</p><p>“Boba Fett.”</p><p>“Han Solo.”</p><p>The child looked a bit overwhelmed at the sudden array of introductions, but nodded anyway.</p><p>“Lando Calrissian,” he replied, and turned the holokey over in his hand.</p><p>He looked up and nodded.</p><p>“You’re all crazy,” he said, “But I accept your offer. When do we start?”</p><p>He gave a grin that would be quite charming in a couple years, but now mostly looked cute. Han whooped, and raced to the cockpit.</p><p>“Get over here! I want to fly my new ship!” He shouted in glee.</p><p>Shaak looked flatly at Colt as she pulled him aside.</p><p>“I’m never letting him play Sabaac again,” her son said as a defense. His grin widened.</p><p>“Their first adopted brother! I’m so proud!” He continued.</p><p>They’d only been on Dantooine for six months, but apparently Colt was already rubbing off.</p><p>“I’ll ride on here, you watch Boba,” she suggested. She was not leaving any of these young men alone for the time being. She had a hard time decided which was worse; Han and a stranger in a junk heap ship, alone, or Boba and three crates of fireworks in the Slave, alone. He nodded and began to follow Boba to the Slave.</p><p>She could hear Han and Lando bickering somewhat good-naturedly in the cockpit and sighed, and then couldn’t help but smile.</p><p>What was it she’d said to Boba, when they were first trying to get him to stay?</p><p>Ah, that was right.</p><p>We have room for one more.</p><p>We will always have room for one more.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mandalorian: little brother</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. There and Back Again, or, Ahsoka’s Hiatus from the Jedi Order</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What went differently after Ahsoka left, and when she came back.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ve had a couple requests for this, on and off. It was fun to write, and is a bit more of an emotional rollercoaster than the other ficlets in this collection, and a bit longer as well.<br/>This seems like a good time to elaborate on my request policy. I have a list of plot bunnies that I choose from, to write, though admittedly sometimes the bunnies choose for me. I add any requests to that list. If you have a request, feel free to leave it! However, if the bunnies don’t bite, I can’t promise to write it.<br/>As usual, I love feedback and favorite lines/concepts! Thank you!<br/>Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anakin watched as Ahsoka walked away from the Order- from him- and struggled not to cry. She was leaving. She was hurt so bad she was leaving him.</p><p>Oh, kark, what would he tell Rex? And Echo? And Fives? And the rest of the men? He turned toward the Temple and wrapped his arms around his front, and choked back a sob.</p><p>He saw the man standing in front of him, and suddenly all the sadness was gone, replaced by anger.</p><p>“Why did you do this to her?” He growled, poking Obi-wan in the chest. Obi-wan stepped back, withdrawing his hand from where it was reaching toward him. Anakin stepped forward, refusing his Master the retreat.</p><p>“Why did you let the Council hand her over? Why did you let the Senate treat her like a criminal? She didn’t do anything wrong, you know that? Why?” He asked violently.</p><p>Obi-wan was starting to pale.</p><p>Good.</p><p>“Anakin...” he tried to respond, but Anakin cut him off.</p><p>“No, you don’t get to calm me down! Don’t you see what you’ve done? To her, to me, To us? How can you live with yourself?” He spat.</p><p>It was only then he noticed that Obi-wan’s eyes were shimmering, much like his own, and that he’d hidden his hands.</p><p>Anakin wasn’t good with nuance, but he’d lived with Obi-wan for ten years; when Obi-wan hid his hands, he didn’t want people to see how he was feeling.</p><p>He did it when he was in negotiations, with people he didn’t know. But with Anakin, he only did it when he was hurting.</p><p>Oh, kark.</p><p>Obi-wan loved Ahsoka too. Ahsoka left Obi-wan too. Suddenly, Anakin’s anger at Obi-wan vanished.</p><p>There was still anger there, of course, but at Tarkin, and the other sleemos at his Padawan’s sham trial. At the karking Natborn Officers in charge of his men, who led them to their deaths with no remorse. Of the corrupt senators in the Senate, and the corrupt judges in the bench, and every single other corrupt piece of kark in the broken system that pretended to be upright and tramped good, honest people like his Padawan under their boot.</p><p>He was starting to think the Republic was worse than Tatooine. At least Tatooine was honest about it.</p><p>Anakin grabbed Obi-wan by the sleeve of his robes and started towing him to the Master’s quarters. He didn’t think he could face the quarters he shared with Ahsoka right now.</p><p>“What happened, Master?” He said, in desperation. Tell me you didn’t mean to, tell me you made a mistake, tell me I’m wrong about what happened.</p><p>“I voted against it,” Obi-wan said steadily, still hiding his hands, “I voted against it from the beginning. You have to believe me, Anakin.”</p><p>And Anakin, Force help him, Anakin did. Obi-wan had never trusted politicians, even the good ones like Padmé and the Chancellor.</p><p>“But, well, the other Council members, they trusted the Republic too much,” Obi-wan murmured sadly, “And they are paying for it now. Everyone loved Ahsoka, Anakin.”</p><p>Anakin knew that. He saw how Ahsoka was popular in the Temple, how the Junior Padawans strove to be just like her, how the Knights and Masters were encouraged by her, how the Initiates and Younglings thought she hung the stars.</p><p>The rate of learners and Initiates learning Jar’kai (1) in the Temple had gone up significantly in the last two years.</p><p>“We honestly thought that she would get a fair trial, Anakin, we really thought that, you have to understand, we never would have acceded to their demands if we had known what they would do to her,” Obi-wan continued. His voice was becoming less even, and his hands were probably shaking in his sleeves.</p><p>Anakin made it to Obi-wan’s door, and yanked them both inside.</p><p>Obi-wan gently shook his robe sleeve from Anakin’s grip and discretely wiped his eyes. He took a breath, and Anakin would never have caught the slight shake in it if he hadn’t been looking for it.</p><p>“If you want to repudiate me, Anakin,” Obi-wan offered painfully, “I will not fight it.”</p><p>Anakin’s thought process went into a screeching halt. He blinked at Obi-wan owlishly.</p><p>“Repudiate you?” He said numbly. Obi-wan nodded silently.</p><p>“Why would I repudiate you?” Anakin continued.</p><p>Obi-wan just looked at him, and raised his eyebrow. It was such an Obi-wan gesture.</p><p>“That’s not how family works, Obi-wan,” Anakin said. He wasn’t mad anymore, just incredibly sad and increasingly numb.</p><p>He almost missed Obi-wan’s blink. He was surprised. Why was he surprised?</p><p>Oh, kark. Qui-gon had repudiated him. Feemor repudiated him. Ahsoka left him, which might as well be repudiation by the laws of the Order. So now he expected Anakin to repudiate him too.</p><p>He needed to talk to Rex. And Cody. They could help.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody looked up as the door to his office at the Coruscant barracks slid open. Both the Generals walked in, both looking absolutely terrible.</p><p>Skywalker was angry, but not furious, just a low, background anger that had been simmering ever since the Rako Hardeen mission. He was also sad, and scared. Not a good combination. He was clutching Kenobi’s sleeve like he wouldn’t ever let go.</p><p>Kenobi was mourning. That was the first thought he had when he looked at the man, and saw his shoulders and his eyes, and they way he hid his hands. And he was expecting to be rejected.</p><p>What the kriff had happened?</p><p>...Where was Ahsoka?</p><p>Oh kriff, what happened to Ahsoka?</p><p>Rex was behind them, and he flicked his eyes to his vod, trying to figure out what was going on.</p><p>Both Jedi sat on the bench he had for visitors, and Skywalker cleared his throat.</p><p>“As of around noon today, Ahsoka Tano is no longer part of the Jedi Order. She left of her own free will,” he said flatly.</p><p>Oh kriff.</p><p>His eyes flickered to Rex again, who was clutching his bucket in his hands and trying to hide his glistening eyes.</p><p>“The reasons she cited were the distrust of the Council and the Republic as a whole,” Skywalker was still holding Kenobi’s sleeve, but he’d given him a look when he mentioned the Council. Kenobi flinched.</p><p>“Her whereabouts are currently unknown,” Skywalker’s voice broke.</p><p>Oh kriff.</p><p>Skywalker noticed Rex standing next to him, trying not to cry, and reached out with the hand not clutching Kenobi. Rex took it.</p><p>Kenobi spoke for the first time, his voice unnaturally flat in the way it got when he was trying not to let anyone else know he was hurting.</p><p>“Is there any way that you can locate her? You or your brothers?” He asked. Skywalker clenched his mentor’s sleeve harder.</p><p>“I’ll ask Fox to keep an eye out,” Cody said tiredly, “But there’s places in the city where his men just can’t go.”</p><p>He saw his General nod, defeatedly, and hunch his shoulders lower. Skywalker must have noticed, too, because he let go of Kenobi’s sleeve to prepare to put his arm over the older man’s shoulders.</p><p>Kenobi’s shoulders hunched even more as Skywalker let go, though. It was like Kenobi was trying to draw into himself. As usual, his face did not change expression.</p><p>Skywalker sighed, shakily.</p><p>“That’s not how family works, Obi-wan, I’ve told you that a thousand times,” he said, and pulled Kenobi close.</p><p>Kenobi startled. Cody was starting to have an even worse feeling about this conversation.</p><p>“I’m your brother,” Skywalker said plaintively, “We agreed, remember? And I’m not waking away from you like that!”</p><p>“I’ll believe you if you’re still around in the morning,” Kenobi muttered, “I always do.”</p><p>Cody did not like that sentence. Neither did Rex, who was staring at the two Jedi in what looked an awful lot like horror.</p><p>“Kenobi, when you have a moment, I need to talk to you about paperwork,” Cody made a snap decision.</p><p>Rex made a face at him. Skywalker just looked at him flatly. Fine, let them think he was an uncaring shebs, but ‘paperwork’ was his and Kenobi’s euphemism for ‘talking things through after a battle so we do not go insane.’</p><p>“Rex, take Skywalker and coordinate with Fox, I’ll start the process here with Kenobi,” Cody ordered, when Rex and Skywalker continued to just look at him. Skywalker glared at him one more time, and then nodded and took Rex with him as he left. Step one complete.</p><p>Now to hammer through his Jedi’s thick skull that he wasn’t something broken to be thrown away.</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan just stared blankly at Cody, exhausted. He’d been so sure that he would be without a family completely after Ahsoka left, because Anakin would leave too. That’s how it worked before; Feemor had denied any relation to him and Anakin when Qui-gon died; and, well, Qui-gon refused him many times, first because of Xanatos Falling, then abandoning him on Melida-Daan for fear of losing Tahl, then repudiating him for fear of Anakin being sent away.</p><p>But Anakin said he wasn’t leaving, and that it wasn’t how family worked. Maybe Anakin knew a different type of family?</p><p>Cody stood up, locked the door, and sat down next to Obi-wan in the spot that Anakin had recently vacated. He took Obi-wan’s wrist, gently, and held it for a while.</p><p>“Skywalker’s right, you know,” he said, “Family doesn’t give up on each other like you’re expecting us to.”</p><p>“I hurt her,” Obi-wan returned, blankly, “I drove her away.”</p><p>He couldn’t allow himself, right now, to be anything but blank. If he wasn’t blank, he would cry.</p><p>“You tried to give her a fair chance,” Cody corrected.</p><p>He had. He’d tried to keep her safe, in the Temple; he’d never trusted the Senate, though he was friends with Padmé and Bail. The Senate was much more than two people, no matter how good those people were.</p><p>“That hasn’t mattered before,” he let himself reply. Cody knew the broad strokes of his past, and hadn’t once judged him for it; he was a good man. One of the best Obi-wan had ever known, and had the pleasure to call friend.</p><p>“Then they were wrong, not you,” Cody replied, “I’d never cast a brother out for failing, even though they did their best. Even if another brother had to leave, because of it.”</p><p>“You’re a good man, Commander,” Obi-wan let himself smile, sadly, “And I should take my leave, and stop taking up your valuable time. I will be fine in the morning, like I said.”</p><p>Cody’s grip on his wrist tightened. He squeezed back on Cody’s wrist, in the gesture of greeting and farewell, and tried to extricate his arm gently. Cody refused to let go.</p><p>“Stay a while, General,” He said gently. Implacably. Obi-wan was not leaving this room for another hour at least.</p><p>“I won’t be fit for company much longer, I’m afraid,” Obi-wan said, regretfully. If only this horrible three days hadn’t happened, if only the Temple had never been bombed, if only his Grandpadawan had not been wrongfully tried and imprisoned. He would have loved to sit and talk with Cody a while, a rare treat in this busy war. If only.</p><p>He needed to meditate, though. He needed to release his emotion to the Force or he would weep.</p><p>“I don’t care, Kenobi, you shouldn’t be alone right now,” Cody replied.</p><p>“I just need to meditate, Cody, and I will be fine,” Obi-wan tried to protest. Cody snorted in disbelief.</p><p>“I’ve heard that one before,” he said gently but sardonically. Obi-wan felt a bit ashamed, but he maintained that meditation was a perfectly suitable replacement for food and sleep in dire circumstances.</p><p>“Cody, please,” Obi-wan tried. He hated imposing his emotions on others, and leaving himself vulnerable in front of others was even worse; he’d been teased for it often until he learned to close himself off.</p><p>Cody sighed, but let go of his wrist. However, he didn’t leave; he simply watched over to his desk, picked up a data pad, and turned it on.</p><p>“Mediate in here,” he said, reading whatever was on it. Obi-wan nodded, giving up. He gently lowered himself on the floor, and took up the lotus position he favored for mediating. He started to release his emotion in the Force, concentrating carefully on his sadness and fear to release first.</p><p>He felt tears trickle down his face, as was common for this kind of meditation. To release your emotions, after all, you have to first hold them, to feel them. But what was uncommon was the hand on his shoulder.</p><p>Cody didn’t move further, or say anything, but simply had his hand on Obi-wan’s shoulder, telling him that he wasn’t alone, that he hadn’t been abandoned again. And that simple act of encouragement and solidarity meant everything.</p><p>...</p><p>Rex walked next to Anakin in silence, as they left Fox’s office in the Coruscant Guard Barracks. The Commander had promised to help, especially when he saw how distraught Rex was, but Fox could only do so much.</p><p>They were walking away now, perhaps even more dejected than they were when they arrived. Anakin was holding Rex’s wrist, probably unconsciously. Rex couldn’t say he minded.</p><p>They ducked into Anakin’s speeder, an enclosed model, but Anakin didn’t make a move to start it up. He burned his face in his hands, instead.</p><p>The idea was looking very tempting, to Rex. He was about to do the same, when Anakin suddenly sat up straighter and hugged him. Or, well, tried to squeeze the life out of him. Rex hugged back on reflex, but then a different reflex took over and he buried his face into his brother’s shoulder.</p><p>It wasn’t the General he was hugging right now, it was Anakin, Skyguy, his slightly older and very reckless brother. They’d lost their sister, kark, their little sister, but they still had each other.</p><p>“I miss her, Rex,” Anakin murmured. Rex clutched back tighter. He felt his shoulder getting wet, but Anakin’s shoulder wasn’t dry either.</p><p>“What do we do, Anakin?” He asked. He had no clue, himself. His only experience with anything like this was Cut Lawquane, and Cut had left because he was tired of war, not because he’d been betrayed.</p><p>“I don’t know, Rex,” Anakin replied, “I really don’t know.”</p><p>“We need to keep looking,” Rex said, “Even if we leave her alone for a little while after we find her, I need to know she’s safe.”</p><p>He gently disentangled from the hug and simply leaned against his brother. Anakin leaned back.</p><p>“And if she’s in trouble?” Anakin asked. Rex shrugged.</p><p>“Well, Fives and Echo have had all the training I was given. They’re fully eligible for command of the legion. And if I just happened to put them in command before wandering to the Twilight to take a nap, and if you just happened to be about to take off for an extraction mission for an ally of the Jedi Order...” he trailed off.</p><p>Anakin grinned, though his eyes were still shiny.</p><p>“I like the way you think, Rex,” he said quietly.</p><p>“That’s why I’m your CO, Anakin,” Rex returned.</p><p>Anakin started the speeder and started piloting them off to the Temple. He drove a bit more sedately than was the norm, but still broke at least three traffic laws on the way.</p><p>“Cody didn’t want to talk about paperwork, didn’t he,” Anakin said suddenly.</p><p>Well this was a tricky position. Break a brother’s confidence, or allow another brother to worry about his own brother’s emotional well-being?</p><p>“Cody and General Kenobi are close friends,” Rex said carefully, “But both are very private people, and both were raised not to show emotion to others.”</p><p>Anakin nodded.</p><p>“I think I understand what you’re saying,” He replied, equally carefully, “And I’m glad he has someone to help him.”</p><p>Rex nodded, relieved. Trying to get Anakin to figure out subtext was always a risky gambit, but he seemed to be more perceptive today.</p><p>Anakin patted his shoulder.</p><p>“I’m just glad our older brothers aren’t alone,” he said. Rex nodded again. They spent the rest of the ride in silence, but it was a good, comfortable kind.</p><p>Rex didn’t have the Force, or any of the weird Jedi feelings, but he did know that he’d see Ahsoka again, and in that moment it felt like everything would be alright.</p><p>...</p><p>Three months later...</p><p>...</p><p>Another day, another dogfight, Anakin mused, spinning his fighter at speeds high enough to give most people gravity sickness. He shot a Vulture droid that was tailing one of his men’s ships, and turned sharply to make the two following him run into the Seppie cruiser they were trying to defend.</p><p>It was his favorite move, if only for the irony.</p><p>They were just mopping up the last of the Vulture droids when Anakin’s comm crackled.</p><p>“Skywalker,” he called absently, blasting another two droids. Rex’s image formed on the little holoconsole.</p><p>“Sir,” he called joyfully, “You’re going to want to get down here.”</p><p>Anakin couldn’t for the life of him remember where the kark they were, what planet they were on, or even the sector. He’d had far to little sleep over the last tenday for that.</p><p>But the sheer happiness in Rex’s voice told him that that moderately-incosequential planet held something very important. He reached out with the Force- and there!</p><p>A familiar presence, much loved, much missed. His men called out in concern over the comms as he dove down to the planet’s surface as steep as the local angle of entry (2) would allow. He managed to remember to reassure them that it was alright, Rex had told him that they all cared for him and it was wrong to worry his loved ones needlessly.</p><p>He did not crash, but he certainly landed fast enough for one. He jumped out of the cockpit and ran to Rex’s side, almost not believing his eyes.</p><p>She was here! Ahsoka was back!</p><p>She’d gotten an inch taller. An inch! At this rate, he might not be the tallest person in the lineage anymore!</p><p>She was hugging Rex, and Rex was hugging her, and Anakin didn’t want to separate them. So he took the middle ground solution: he hugged them both.</p><p>They shifted in his arms a bit, until they had each worked their arms around him in return, resting their foreheads against each other.</p><p>“I’m so glad to see you!” Anakin couldn’t help but grin. Ahsoka smiled timidly back.</p><p>“I’m glad to see you too, Master,” she paused, “You aren’t mad?”</p><p>Anakin squeezed her even tighter.</p><p>“No,” he said, “I’m just glad you’re back.”</p><p>“I am too, for the record,” added Rex. Ahsoka smiled at them both, and made no move to escape the hug.</p><p>“Is there any way I can help with the war effort?” She asked after a while. Anakin shook his head, and felt Rex do the same next to him.</p><p>“You’re safe now,” Anakin said, “You don’t need to fight anymore.”</p><p>“But I want to help you!” Ahsoka objected.</p><p>Anakin and Rex gently separated from the hug, and simply looked at each other, still holding each of Ahsoka’s hands.</p><p>“Why do you want to help, Ahsoka?” Rex asked gently.</p><p>Ahsoka looked at them both with unreadable eyes.</p><p>“You’re my family,” She enunciated, “You’re constantly in danger, and I want to watch your back.”</p><p>Anakin leaned against Rex, partly as a gesture of affection and partly because he was so kriffing tired. Rex leaned back, probably for the same reasons. He hadn’t slept much either.</p><p>Ahsoka’s expression morphed from blankness to concern, probably because she’d noticed how tired they were. Anakin knew he had unattractive smudges under his eyes, and Rex’s eyes were in the unnaturally wide position that meant he was concentrating on holding them open.</p><p>“Come on, you two,” she sighed, leading them to a small shuttle parked at the edge of the landing pad they were on.</p><p>She herded them up the ramp and to the small couch in the cargo hold, and tried to get them to sit down on it.</p><p>Anakin smirked at Rex, who smiled tiredly back. They both grabbed Ahsoka and pulled her down with them, settling with her sandwiched between them on the admittedly tiny couch that was probably only designed for two, not three.</p><p>Rex tried to get up; he had a bad habit of that, working when he was too tired. Anakin grabbed his shoulder, and Ahsoka grabbed his arm, so he had no choice but to stay sitting down. He reluctantly settled.</p><p>The couch was uncomfortable, and incredibly cramped, but Anakin didn’t care. He had his little sister back. He held on to Ahsoka and Rex as he went to sleep.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody knew something was off when Rex commed him in the middle of the local day-cycle. The 212th and 501st were currently under the command of Skywalker while Kenobi was on Coruscant for Jedi Council Business. Skywalker had led a space defense while the grounders of each legion were performing a pincer movement on a vital Seppie ground fortress. They’d won in short time, as campaigns these days went, but Rex wasn’t supposed to report in for another three hours.</p><p>It was probably a good kind of off, by the way Rex was smiling, though. Cody knew he could use some good news at the moment, so he smiled back and nodded for his brother to begin.</p><p>His brother beamed.</p><p>“Ahsoka’s back!” He all but yelled. Cody smiled too. He’d missed the Togruta; he wasn’t close enough to her to count her as a sister, but she was a bright ray of sunshine in this otherwise dark war, and she was important to both Rex and Kenobi.</p><p>He still remembered the way his stoic General had been convinced that he would be cast out when she left, how he had cried for her when he meditated. The man had been subdued ever since, and Cody had been sure to keep a close eye on him.</p><p>Cody had started doing paperwork in Kenobi’s office, instead of his own. His General appreciated the company, and Cody got to try some of those teas his General loved so much. They were delicious. He considered a it win-win.</p><p>Rex turned out of the frame and reached for something. That something turned out to be Ahsoka, as he pulled her into the range of holotransmission.</p><p>“Hey Cody,” she smiled. She was dressed more mutedly than he remembered her, steel greys and blues rather than the bright oranges and reds he remembered, and her eyes were sad. But she seemed well enough, and the sadness that she held wasn’t preventing her from leaning into Rex.</p><p>Cody would have to pull up the consultant position paperwork he and Kenobi had created, send it to Rex so he could get her to sign it. Even if she didn’t stay, and he hoped she would, at least for a while, for Rex’s and Kenobi’s sake, she would have funds and backup if she got into trouble.</p><p>“Hello sir,” he replied.</p><p>“I’m not your commanding officer anymore, Cody, call me Ahsoka,” she smiled.</p><p>“Yes, Ahsoka,” He said. She nodded gracefully, and exited the frame.</p><p>“Have you contacted Kenobi yet?” Cody asked his brother.</p><p>“No, Anakin’s raising him now,” Rex replied absently.</p><p>“General Skywalker,” Cody reprimanded, suddenly severe and with his back straight.</p><p>“He’s my brother, Cody, I never call you Commander if we’re alone,” Rex protested.</p><p>“Skywalker’s a natborn and a Jedi,” Cody returned, still severely, “And brother or not, if the wrong person hears you call your Jedi by his first name...”</p><p>“I’m careful, Cody,” Rex said gently, “And so is Anakin. But if we let fear come between us and our family, we will have nothing left when what we fear comes.”</p><p>Cody nodded, begrudgingly. Rex was right. But that wouldn’t stop him from worrying.</p><p>“Do you know where Kenobi is?” Rex asked, clearly being questioned by someone off projection.</p><p>Cody sighed.</p><p>“I might have a good idea,” he said, “But he won’t have his comm on, except for the emergency frequency. I’ll go get him.”</p><p>Kenobi had just returned from Coruscant as the battle was won. Knowing the man, he was dismayed by how behind he has gotten on the never ending paperwork and other leadership tasks that he had not had the chance to complete on the city planet.</p><p>Rex nodded gratefully, and cut the frequency with a brief goodbye. Cody sighed, and headed to where he suspected his General was.</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan was meditating, in his office. It wasn’t the Room of a Thousand Fountains, to be sure, but it was quiet enough to be serviceable. If he meditated another hour, he wouldn’t need to sleep tonight, and he’d be able to get more done.</p><p>He heard a knock on the office door, evenly spaced, three repetitions. Only Cody knocked like that.</p><p>“Come in!” He called, only for his second to come in and frown at him. Rude.</p><p>“General,” Cody said in his no-I-am-not-scolding-you-General-you-simply-do-not-care-for-yourself voice, “When was the last time you slept?”</p><p>“The Force will sustain me,” Obi-wan evaded. It had been three days, and he didn’t want to be subjected to Cody’s why-do-you-do-this-to-me-and-yourself-General look.</p><p>He got it anyway. Cody was a very perceptive man, unfortunately.</p><p>“I didn’t come in here to interrogate you about your sleep habits, General,” Cody sighed.</p><p>“You could have fooled me!” Obi-wan returned cheerfully. He got another look.</p><p>“Check your comm,” Cody continued, as if he had not spoken, “Call that brother of yours, he has good news.”</p><p>Obi-wan nodded, and began to pull his comm out of his robe. Cody fixed him with another look.</p><p>“And if I find you in here tonight,” his devilish Commander grinned suddenly, “I will simply come and join you and do my own paperwork, and not sleep until you sleep. And you don’t want me to deprive myself of sleep, do you?”</p><p>Cody was too smart for his own good.</p><p>“Alright, Cody,” Obi-wan sighed, “I’ll sleep.”</p><p>Cody nodded in satisfaction and left the office. Obi-wan commed Anakin; he didn’t think Cody was telling him to call Feemor.</p><p>Did Cody even know about Feemor?</p><p>Force, maybe he did need to sleep. His mind was wandering.</p><p>Anakin picked up with the brightest grin Obi-wan had seen in months.</p><p>“Master! Ahsoka’s back!” He near-shouted, widening the field of projection to capture the image of Ahsoka under his arm. She smiled at him, through the comm image sensor.</p><p>“It’s good to see you, Master Kenobi,” she said cordially. Obi-wan couldn’t help but smile. He was overjoyed for them.</p><p>“What are you waiting for, Master, come on! You need to give Ahsoka a proper hello! You can’t hug someone through a holo!” Anakin was getting carried away. It had been so long since he had seen his Padawan so happy.</p><p>He would not ruin this for them.</p><p>“Ah, I’d hate to impose,” he said vaguely, hoping to give Anakin a hint.</p><p>Anakin was not picking up on hints today, however.</p><p>“You’re not an imposition, you’re her Grandmaster!” He insisted jovially. Obi-wan sighed; he’d have to be blunt.</p><p>“Anakin. Do you really think she wants to see me? I sit on the Council that drove her away,” he said directly. Anakin blinked at him, before the comm was suddenly blurred. Anakin’s commlink was moving rapidly.</p><p>“Of course I want to see you, Master Kenobi!” Ahsoka filled the field of projection. Ah. He’d almost forgotten that Anakin did not believe in private comm conversations.</p><p>It was a wonder he’d kept his marriage a secret this long.</p><p>Force, his mind really was wandering.</p><p>“Are you sure, Ahsoka?” He couldn’t help but ask. Ahsoka gave him a hard look.</p><p>“Of course, Master!” She insisted, “You fought for me, I know you did. Even if you failed, you still tried. And if you do not start on your way over here, I will comm Cody and have him guilt you into it!”</p><p>She wanted to see him. His Grandpadawan wanted to see him. He hadn’t driven her away after all. He hadn’t hurt his family past the point of forgiveness.</p><p>His eyes widened in wonder. No one had ever come back, before, after they left. Not of their own free will. But Ahsoka did come back.</p><p>He smiled again, brighter.</p><p>“I have a counter-proposition, Ahsoka,” he began.</p><p>“Oh, here we go,” Anakin muttered off screen.</p><p>“I come to see you and bring Cody with me. I’m pretty sure he’s missed you too,” Obi-wan finished.</p><p>“I accept your offer, Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka nodded mock-pompously, “And we expect your arrival at your earliest convenience.”</p><p>Obi-wan bid goodbye, hung up the comm, and kept smiling for a private moment. She forgave him! She wanted to see him!</p><p>He hadn’t driven away his family after all...</p><p>...</p><p>Rex snickered as he watched his Generals’ byplay. Kenobi was an odd one, nice, but odd. He always seemed surprised when someone treated him they way he treated them.</p><p>That did not bode well for his past, but that was none of Rex’s business. He’d have to content himself with making sure the man was welcome when he arrived.</p><p>It would be another hour or so until he managed to get to them; he was on the other side of a decent-sized continent.</p><p>Anakin seemed to have an idea of what to do in the interim. He was going through the tiny kitchen, just a sink and a microwave gun, really, in Ahsoka’s shuttle.</p><p>“Hey, grassland-carnivore ration bars! I’ve always wanted to try one of these, can I, Ahsoka?” He called back. Ahsoka looked at him weirdly.</p><p>“Sure, Master,” she said, cautious, “Knock yourself out.”</p><p>Anakin walked back with the bar, and handed her one of the bars he kept on his belt.</p><p>“Here, try this,” he offered, “New experiences!”</p><p>Ahsoka gave him another dubious look, but accepted.</p><p>Rex had a sneaking suspicion where this was going, so he fished one of the energy drink packs he kept in his belt out and dumped it into his canteen. He gave the whole thing to Ahsoka, who looked at him dubiously.</p><p>“To wash down the bar,” he invented, and she seemed to believe him.</p><p>He gave Anakin a questioning look and held out his hand. Anakin broke the bar in half and passed it to him.</p><p>They sat on Ahsoka’s tiny couch and began to eat, chatting with each other.</p><p>The ration bar tasted like someone had rubbed raw meat up against plastifoam, then thrown away the meat and kept the foam. Rex made a face, but ate the whole thing.</p><p>Ahsoka wasn’t faring much better; apparently the adaptable-omnivore bars were about as tasty to Togrutas as they were to humans, which is to say, not at all appealing. Rex had heard the flavor described as organic fiber with hint of green vegetable and cheap poultry.</p><p>She finished it though, she’d probably figured out that it was important, and downed the canteen of energy drink in a gulp. She made a face, still, but at least the drink packets weren’t horrible. They just tasted like sugar.</p><p>“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'vod,” Rex said, suddenly. He couldn’t help himself; it just didn’t seem right without the words. Ahsoka looked up, parsed the words in her head, and then hugged him.</p><p>“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'vod,” she replied, and he smiled even wider.</p><p>Anakin hugged them both, and they soon ended up in a very similar position as when Anakin first landed.</p><p>“How long do you plan to stay, Ahsoka?” Rex couldn’t help but ask, bracing himself for the answer.</p><p>“I was hoping to just, well, stay,” Ahsoka said timidly, “I spent some time on Mandalore, and everything there was telling me that family is important, and that I should return to mine.”</p><p>Rex hugged her tighter, and so did Anakin. After a few moments of impaired breathing, they relaxed gently.</p><p>“As long as you want,” Anakin promised. He jerked, suddenly.</p><p>“I almost forgot!” He exclaimed, reaching to a secret pocket on the back of his tunic. Rex knew what was there, so he kept quiet. Ahsoka merely tilted her head.</p><p>Anakin withdrew a familiar pair of lightsabers, and held them out to Ahsoka.</p><p>“I believe these are yours,” he smiled. Ahsoka looked at him in wonder, and hugged him again.</p><p>“Thank you,” she whispered, and Rex felt his smile turn soft.</p><p>He’d missed her. He was so glad she was back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. The two-handed saber form Ahsoka uses.<br/>2. The angle (or range of angles) at which spacecraft must enter a planet’s atmosphere in order to not get burned up by friction from air molecules.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. In Which the Jedi Order Does Not Forbid Hugs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Obi-wan and Anakin have mentioned having some misconceptions about the Jedi Code, which were cleared up before Exodus Flight. Sometimes, though, clearing up misconceptions is not as smooth as it might seem.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this was one of the ones that I didn’t realize would get so long. It started out as just Plo’s Segment. <br/>This kind of deals with the Jedi Order’s stance on affection, at least in my works. First of all, while attachment, or obsession or selfish love, is definitely a bad thing, not all love leads to it. Second of all, there’s a lot of psychological research that suggests that not giving children physical affection (hugs, gentle touch, etc) can lead to lack of empathy, mental illnesses, and even physical health problems like failure to thrive. <br/>The Jedi Order is made up of reasonably healthy, compassionate individuals. This suggests that physical affection is permitted, at least in some circumstances. <br/>Now, then, why would Obi-wan and Anakin not know this? Well, Anakin’s source of what is acceptable for the Order is Obi-wan, and Obi-wan’s was Qui-gon, a flawed man who was terrified of his apprentice Falling. Since Falling and affection were linked in Qui-gon’s mind, I find it quite possible that he didn’t give Obi-wan much affection on purpose. With the best of intentions, even. <br/>Therefore, this monstrosity was born.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jedi Master Plo Koon didn’t like this situation a whit. He looked at the terrified young Knight and Padawan in front of him and wondered how things went so wrong right under their noses.</p><p>It had been a pleasant morning. He had decided to visit Padawan Skywalker, and his Master, Knight Kenobi, for a cup of tea. He enjoyed their company, and they way they would play off each other for their own amusement, and to make others laugh.</p><p>He hoped that they would be receptive of a closer friendship. One could always use more friendship.</p><p>He had tried to engage their door-chime when he neared their quarters, but the doors simply whooshed open instead. Assuming he had been sensed or perhaps observed on his way (young Anakin was fond of tinkering with the MSE droids that roamed the Temple) he simply walked in, only to surprise the inhabitants of the suite.</p><p>Knight Kenobi appeared to be giving his apprentice a hug.</p><p>A perfectly acceptable happening, and even encouraged, by Plo. Hugging apprentices made them grow to be compassionate Jedi, or so Master Tyvokka had said, and Master Tyvokka would surely know.</p><p>But Knight Kenobi was looking at him like he expected to be censured, and Padawan Skywalker was half-behind his Master in outright terror. Something was obviously wrong here.</p><p>They were reacting like they had been found in a much less innocent embrace, but Plo checked the Force and there was no hint of that kind of emotion from either. Small blessings. He’d hate to have to hurt Kenobi; he had no remorse for child molesters.</p><p>Knight Kenobi broke the silence first.</p><p>“I must request that my Padawan not be punished. I take full responsibility for any displays of attachment, and any attachment on his part is my fault,” he said, in a rush.</p><p>Plo tilted his head.</p><p>“I did not see a display of attachment,” he said carefully, “I saw a Master hugging his Padawan.”</p><p>Kenobi shook his head, desperately.</p><p>“Please, Master, it’s my fault. I hugged him, he has nothing to do with it,” he pleaded.</p><p>Plo reached out his hand, and took the young Knight’s hand in his own, in a bid to calm him down.</p><p>“There is nothing wrong with a Master hugging his Padawan, just as their is nothing wrong with a parent hugging their child,” he said, gently, “The Code tells us to be compassionate to all, and serve their needs, and young ones need affection.”</p><p>Knight Kenobi was looking at him like he had grown a second head. Padawan Skywalker was looking at him with a terrified hope.</p><p>What had been done to these boys?</p><p>“Really, Master?” Padawan Skywalker said, “It isn’t against the Code?”</p><p>“Your Master is supposed to be your family, young one,” Plo replied solemnly, “And his job is to support and encourage you, and give you hugs if you need them.”</p><p>A horrible thought occurred to him. Skywalker was raised outside the Temple, so it made sense that he did not know their ways. Kenobi, however...</p><p>“Knight Kenobi,” He said slowly, “Was Master Jinn not affectionate to you?”</p><p>Kenobi blinked at him, and then shook his head slowly.</p><p>“He’d pat me on the shoulder, sometimes,” he said, “And lean on me when he was drunk. He hugged me once,” a smile, too rare on the Knight’s face, “After he got me back from Zan Arbor.”</p><p>Plo felt the urge to punch Qui-gon Jinn. It was not a new urge. He unfortunately had not given into the urge when he had the chance, and had no way to fulfill it now.</p><p>“You must understand, Knight Kenobi, that a Master is expected to comfort and support, and even love, their Padawan,” he said, evenly.</p><p>“Really?” Kenobi said, too cautiously. What had they done to this young family?</p><p>Skywalker looked over his Master’s shoulder, and met Plo’s eyes. He reached his other hand to the teen, and was surprised when the child hugged him instead. Kenobi watched them both carefully.</p><p>He hugged Skywalker back, gently. Kenobi’s look changed from careful to considering.</p><p>“I would be happy to be counted as a resource in training a Padawan. Though I have never trained one myself, I believe I can stand in as an older Padawan to your lineage,” Plo offered carefully. Kenobi had no lineage living, no one to go to for the questions that all new Masters had. He wanted to be there for them.</p><p>Kenobi looked at him, still consideringly, but nodded cautiously.</p><p>“Do you have any tips for getting him to calm down enough to meditate?” He asked, cautious but eager. Skywalker gave him a betrayed look.</p><p>Oh dear.</p><p>...</p><p>Yoda had a bad feeling when Master Plo Koon petitioned the Council just before everyone was about to leave. And it wasn’t just because he wanted to get back to his soup.</p><p>Though bog-bark soup was near inedible if left to simmer for too long.</p><p>Master Koon stood up, and walked to the center of the Council chamber, as was traditional for a Council Member presenting a new idea.</p><p>“I would like to petition a mandatory periodic evaluation of all Master-Padawan teams by the Temple Therapists,” he said.</p><p>Naturally, it caused an uproar.</p><p>“What is the meaning of this? The Master-Padawan bond is sacred! It should not be meddled with by jumped-up mental counselors!” objected Oppo Rancisis.</p><p>“Why do you suggest such a thing, Master Koon?” asked Mace Windu, more calmly. Yoda simply watched in silence.</p><p>“I recently surprised a Master-Padawan team in their quarters. The Knight was hugging their Padawan, as is perfectly normal and natural for such a close bond, yet both were convinced upon seeing me that they would be censured for such an action, even cast out of the Order. It was... disturbing,” Master Koon said quietly.</p><p>Yoda felt his ears twitch. It was odd.</p><p>“A lineage, did they not have, to teach them what a Master and Padawan should be?” He asked, curiously. Master Koon gave him an oddly judgmental look.</p><p>“They are the only members of their lineage within two generations,” he said, “They have no one but each other. I have offered to step in, to try to take the place of an older Padawan-brother, but I can only do so much.”</p><p>“And the Master of this young Knight? Does this person not have memories of their own apprenticeship to draw on?” Adi Galla spoke quietly. Master Koon shook his head.</p><p>“The Knight only recalls the affection of friendly acquaintances, or affection given under the effects of intoxicants. He is aware of only one embrace, after a life-or-death situation,” he intoned.</p><p>Yoda’s bad feeling was getting worse.</p><p>“Why did not the Masters intercede on this Padawan’s behalf?” Master Windu said evenly.</p><p>“They never complained. They probably thought it was normal, the expected behavior of a Master to a Padawan. They are very young. They were apprenticed in the Temple around the time of Galidraan, and also the Fallings of Initiate Chun and Padawan Du Crion,” murmured Master Koon.</p><p>“Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker, is it?” Yoda said tiredly. Master Koon nodded, watching him carefully.</p><p>The entire Temple had changed, suddenly, after the rash of Fallings in that two-year period. Yoda had simply thought his Grandpadawan was striving to be affectionate only in private, like many Masters had. He cursed his willingness to look the other way. Because of his blindness, a fine young Knight- his Great-Grandpadawan- had been hurt.</p><p>“Approve this motion, I do,” he said tiredly, “Leave this discussion to the Council, I will, and go to talk to my grandpadawans, I will.”</p><p>Feeling every one of his eight hundred years, he shuffled out of the chamber. He could feel Master Koon watched him cooly as left.</p><p>He couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it.</p><p>...</p><p>Anakin was doing his homework when the door chimed. He looked up as Obi-wan answered it, getting up from his meditating mat.</p><p>“Master Yoda!” Came the voice of his Master from the doorway.</p><p>He tensed reflexively. ‘Master’ was still a bad word, for him, even living in the Temple for almost six years. But he relaxed again, telling himself that the only Masters here were good.</p><p>They were Master Tradesmen, like the Master Lapidary for the Hutts who could make a dull desert stone glow like a star, or the Master Weaver who could turn rough bantha-wool into an impossibly delicate fabric that you could see through at three layers. They weren’t slave-masters, Knight Vos had explained in rising horror when he had first asked. It was an immeasurable comfort to know that.</p><p>His Master Jedi (he couldn’t think of himself as having a Master, still, but his therapist said that was normal; so he called Obi-wan Master Jedi, to remind himself that he was an apprentice not a slave) invited Master Jedi Yoda into their apartment. Anakin made sure to look extra studious.</p><p>His Jedi Master turned towards Yoda, and invited him to sit. The older Jedi’s eyes were unreadable.</p><p>“Obi-wan, known you since the crèche, I have,” he said, in that odd cadence of his. Obi-wan nodded, uncertainly.</p><p>“Failed you so much, have I, that you could not ask me for help?” The older Jedi continued.</p><p>Poor Obi-wan just looked confused.</p><p>“I’ve asked you for help,” he said, “I call you for backup all the time.”</p><p>Anakin carefully did not snigger. Obi-wan liked to blame missions going wrong on Anakin, or Master Qui-gon, but he got into just as much trouble when he was out solo.</p><p>Of course, he never told Anakin about it, but Anakin could feel it over their bond. It drove him crazy, knowing that his Master Jedi (big brother) was in danger and he couldn’t help him.</p><p>Yoda just looked tired. And old.</p><p>Not, of course, that he would tell him that. He checked his mental shields, just in case. Still strong.</p><p>“A most disturbing story, Master Koon brought to the Council today,” he said, “About a young Knight who thought that against the Jedi Code, affection was.”</p><p>Obi-wan’s face did not change, but a sharp stab of betrayal went over their bond. Anakin winced. Yoda must have noticed, because he sighed.</p><p>“Your name, he did not give; guessed, I did. Wants to make sure it does not happen again, Master Koon does,” he admitted. The betrayal smoothed out.</p><p>“Show you affection and love, did Master Jinn... not?” Yoda asked, hesitantly. Anakin decided to go sit beside Obi-wan, and lean against him. He looked like he needed a hug.</p><p>And apparently hugs weren’t against the Code, which was absolutely Wizard.</p><p>Obi-wan put his arm over Anakin, gently. He was always gentle. It was one of the things that had convinced Anakin he was finally free; no slave-master could be that gentle.</p><p>“He was hurt, Master Yoda,” Obi-wan said finally, “He didn’t want me to turn into Xanatos.”</p><p>It wasn’t a no. Anakin couldn’t bring himself to be surprised. He couldn’t believe he’d idolized Qui-gon once.</p><p>“Xanatos, you are not!” Yoda snapped. Anakin nudged him in agreement over their bond. Obi-wan squeezed him tighter, then let go.</p><p>“I know that, Master, and even Qui-gon did, most days. He just... couldn’t,” Obi-wan said. Yoda eyed him perceptively.</p><p>“Your fault, it is not, and your failing, it is not,” the old Master said, “My failing, it may well be. Assumed he had healed, I did; assumed that he treated you well, I did. My apologies, I extend.”</p><p>He looked down and bowed his ears, and then stood up and gave a formal bow, one of greatest respect and apology.</p><p>Obi-wan reaches out his hand to the older Master Jedi, and Yoda took it. Obi-wan gave a small bow back, though he remained sitting.</p><p>“Your great-Grandmaster, I am. To fill the position of Grandmaster, I wish to. To give help, support, advice, I will, if wish me to, you do. Pressured, do not feel; but open, my door always is,” the green Jedi finished.</p><p>He bowed, again formally, and took his leave.</p><p>Obi-wan wrapped his other arm around Anakin. He almost had to reach up; Anakin was in the middle of a growth spurt and had almost passed him in height. Anakin wrapped his arms around his Master’s neck.</p><p>“We’re not alone,” Anakin reminded him, because sometimes Obi-wan needed to hear it. Obi-wan always made sure to tell him when Anakin needed to hear it.</p><p>“We’re not alone,” Obi-wan answered, and it even sounded like he was starting to believe it.</p><p>Anakin was glad.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>How’d I do with Yoda-speak? It’s always kind of a struggle to balance the intelligence of a Jedi Master with a reversed grammatical structure.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. We Be of One Blood, You and I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wolffe picked up more than his sass from Plo.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ve been playing with your heartstrings for the last couple chapters, I know. So I thought I’d start writing fluff. If you get cavities, well, you were warned.<br/>Also, I had way too much fun with the Jungle Book references for this one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was seven o’clock of a very warm evening on Dantooine when when it happened. Katooni had invited Wolffe to storytime in the Little’s Barracks, in her unwavering attempts to get the Littles to like him. Today, they were spending time with some three-year-old Littles.</p><p>It was working, even, one of the kids sat next to him today. He could only feel wonder over that. Katooni had to leave for training after storytime, but Wolffe decided to stay a little longer out of a forlorn hope that he absolutely would not admit to himself.</p><p>After storytime, the Littles decided to play a game of Maimerball, a version of Murderball with the rules modified for lower chance of injury to the players. The game was heated, even if the teams were unbalanced; one team had an extra player. Oddly, no one objected to this; usually fairness was paramount to Littles.</p><p>The game’s balls were old beanbag rounds from the training courses at Kamino, not the rocks used in Murderball. Nevertheless, when thrown with sufficient force, they hurt; especially if they hit wrong.</p><p>It was a fluke, Wolffe thought at first. One of the Littles on the team with an extra player was running happily with the target-ball, and the rest were throwing the aiming-balls at him. He was halfway to the goal when another Little slipped as he was throwing and the beanbag arced toward his head instead of the target-ball.</p><p>No big deal. The kid was obviously quick and agile, he could dodge.</p><p>It’s just that he didn’t. The beanbag hit him near-directly in his open eye. The kid went over with a yell, and started crying in pain.</p><p>The other Littles started clamoring for a Medic, while Wolffe rushed toward the crying Cadet. The Little who had hit him was inconsolable, holding the hurt kid’s hand and wailing apologies. Wolffe scooped up the hurt kid and hugged them; both the kid’s eyes were closed in pain, so he wouldn’t be scared, and a hug was the best thing you could do for a hurt Little until the Medics got to him.</p><p>One of the caretakers ran over as well. Wolffe tried to hand the kid over, but he was clutching Wolffe too tightly to budge. The caretaker shook his head after the first failure, and just held the kid’s hand. Wolffe was not looking forward to the fear in the kid’s eyes when he opened them.</p><p>The Medic ran over as soon as he entered, and started checking the kid’s eye. The caretaker shook his head when he started to do vision tests.</p><p>“Don’t, Vod,” He warned quietly in Mando’a, “He’s never been able to see out of that eye.”</p><p>Wolffe stared at the caretaker. The Medic hesitated, and switched to a small scanner.</p><p>The caretaker sighed, and explained.</p><p>“Congenital mutation, maybe a birth defect (1),” He continued, still in Mando’a, “He wasn’t decommissioned, because General Ti prevented it, but hates to be reminded.”</p><p>Wolffe raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“Where’s your squad, kid?” He asked in Mando’a. Maybe the kid liked it better than basic.</p><p>The caretaker shook his head again.</p><p>“He doesn’t speak Mando’a yet. He has no squad; the Kaminoans isolated defects, so they didn’t ‘contaminate’ their brothers,” he replied. Wolffe’s eyes widened further, then narrowed in fury.</p><p>The Medic put a small mist of bacta on the kid’s eye, then handed the spray bottle to the caretaker.</p><p>“It should feel better in a minute,” he said, “I’ve gotta recommend you wear a patch or something when you play in the future.”</p><p>The medic’s head jerked up as he finished speaking, and he was off to the next minor medical emergency; a skinned knee on the other side of the room. The caretaker stayed, though.</p><p>“I have your patch with me, if you want to wear it,” he offered.</p><p>The kid shook his head, still with his eyes shut.</p><p>“No,” he muttered, “Makes me defective.”</p><p>Wolffe clutched him tighter. The kid didn’t complain, even hugged him back a little. It made a part of his heart lighten, even through the anger at the Kaminiise.</p><p>The caretaker sighed, tiredly and sadly.</p><p>“You’re not defective, kid, with or without the patch. You’ll grow up big and strong, and when you’re old enough, we’ll see about getting you a prosthetic eye. But until then, you have to be careful,” he said gently. The kid shook his head again.</p><p>“None of my brothers have a patch,” he said. Wolffe blinked.</p><p>“I had to wear one for three months,” he said. He had. It had taken his Buir forever to get him the prosthetic eye. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Buir had lied, and said it was for a Jedi, to finally get it.</p><p>The kid’s eyes shot open, to look at who was holding him. Wolffe braced himself for the fear, but the kid’s eyes only widened in surprise, and he reached up to trace the scar on Wolffe’s eye.</p><p>“Really?” He said in wonder.</p><p>“Yeah,” Wolffe replied, “Itched like crazy.”</p><p>“They do!” The kid lit up, “I’ve never had a patch that didn’t itch!”</p><p>“But sometimes you have to wear them, to protect yourself,” Wolffe said sternly, “You wouldn’t want a brother to go into battle without armor, would you?”</p><p>The caretaker was called away by a small commotion in the corner of the room. Wolffe nodded at him as he went.</p><p>“Nooo...” The Little murmured.</p><p>“What’s your name, kid?” Wolffe asked, watching the caretaker break up a small fistfight with practiced ease.</p><p>“Don’t have one, yet,” The kid mumbled. Wolffe blinked. Most kids named themselves, or the caretakers gave them temporary names until they found one they liked.</p><p>“He hasn’t named you?” He asked, nodding at the other adult Clone who was currently scolding a pair of Littles.</p><p>“He’s nice, but he’s not my caretaker,” The kid said, “I kind of don’t have one. I switch between all the squads. I think they want me to make friends, but it’s hard.”</p><p>The caretaker had wandered back, and looked guilty for a moment.</p><p>“We don’t have the resources to help him,” he said, “But we try our best with what we have. We were hoping he could integrate into a squad, but it hasn’t happened yet.”</p><p>Wolffe knew what that was like, being on the outside of all the squads. He remembered when the new Wolfpack was assigned and he and Sinker and Boost had been on the outside of fully-formed bands of brothers.</p><p>This kid had no one.</p><p>He made a snap decision.</p><p>“Would you like to come and live with me?” He asked, gently. The kid’s eyes widened to the size of dinner trays.</p><p>“Really?” He whispered.</p><p>Wolffe felt that hope he still would not acknowledge starting to burn a little brighter in his soul.</p><p>“Really,” he whispered back, “I remember what it’s like to be alone.”</p><p>Sinker and Boost were his friends, his close brothers, but he was their superior officer. He couldn’t fraternize, he’d thought at first. For a while after the destruction of the old Pack, he’d felt so alone, until Buir and Boost and Sinker got after him to disobey the regs.</p><p>He didn’t feel alone now. He didn’t want this kid to, either. That stubborn, hopeful dream that was starting to stir in his spirit wouldn’t let him.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking about a name,” The kid whispered, testing, “Can you call me Akela?”</p><p>“Certainly, Akela,” Wolffe said gently. The kid nodded, and hugged him again.</p><p>“I’d like to come with you, sir,” he said.</p><p>Wolffe paused, finally admitting to that dream of his- a kid of his own. It had seemed so out of reach, but then, so has his Buir adopting him.</p><p>“Akela, would you like to call me sir, or do you want to call me Buir? Either one is fine,” he murmured.</p><p>“What’s Buir mean?” Came the reply.</p><p>“It means parent,” He said, yearning and cautious and quiet all at once, “I’d like to adopt you, if you’re willing?”</p><p>The kid blinked up at him again. He’d thought the tiny eyes couldn’t get any wider. He was apparently wrong.</p><p>“You want to adopt me?” The kid repeated, shocked. Wolffe nodded, fighting the urge to bite his lip.</p><p>“You really want to be my dad,” Akela said, looking him in the eyes. Wolffe nodded again.</p><p>“Your Buir, yes,” he murmured. Akela considered.</p><p>“I think I’d like that very much,” he said. Wolffe felt the smile spread across his face without his persmission.</p><p>“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Akela,” He said, quietly, and picked up the boy to hug him. Akela buried his face in Wolffe’s neck, and Wolffe could feel wetness soaking his blacks.</p><p>“Are you alright?” He asked in alarm. He couldn’t have hurt the kid, right? Akela looked up, smiling, with shining eyes.</p><p>“I’m not alone anymore,” he said. Wolffe’s smile returned, softening. He gently tapped their foreheads together in a kov’nyn (2), holding it for a while.</p><p>“Let’s get your things packed up so we can move you to my quarters,” he suggested, still smiling. The caretaker Clone, who had been watching them carefully, smiled at them brightly.</p><p>“Over here,” he indicated Akela’s berth. Wolffe and Akela made quick work of packing the kid’s things into his duffel bag, which Wolffe slung over his shoulder. He held Akela’s hand as they walked over to the door, and Wolffe began guiding the kid to their quarters.</p><p>He couldn’t wait to tell Buir that he was a Ba’buir (3), and Katooni and Boost and Sinker and Comet that they would be Ba’vodu (4). His long-cherished dream was a reality; he couldn’t help but squeezed Akela’s hand at the thought. The kid squeezed back.</p><p>They both smiled all the way to their home.</p><p>And that is how Akela was entered into the the Wolfpack for the price of a hurt eye and on Wolffe’s good word.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. A congenital mutation, as I’m using it here, is a mutation in cell development when the child is still growing in the womb. A birth defect is traditionally another name for this, but I’m using it to refer to something going wrong in the birthing process such as lack of oxygen to the brain for too long causing damage.<br/>2. Mandalorian: Keldabe Kiss; resting foreheads together to show affection.<br/>3. Mandalorian: grandparent.<br/>4. Mandalorian: aunt/uncle. </p><p>Note: Akela is a name from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. He’s the leader of the Wolf Pack. One of his other names is the Lone Wolf.<br/>You have no clue how much willpower it took for me not to name the kid Mowgli.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Caleb and Stance’s Super Secret Lightsaber Lessons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Caleb and Stance are another pair that shouldn't be left unsupervised for too long. Luckily, they’ve not started making structural modifications to the Venators. <br/>Yet.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m alive! Just busy. <br/>So I wrote this a while back, and wanted to polish it and post it!<br/>I know you guys were looking forward to Akela meeting the Wolfpack, and that is in the works, promise, and after that my debut of Luke and Leia. Then, some discussion of Mandalorian culture with Boba, Obi-wan and Cody. <br/>But I wanted to give you some fluff with Depa, Grey, Caleb, and Stance, after making you all cry (apparently) with In the Jungle.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Grey looked at the scene in front of him and sighed. He looked over at Depa, who also sighed. He knew it had been too quiet lately.</p><p>Depa looked fixedly at the group in front of them as if she was expecting what was in front of her to change. It didn’t.</p><p>Caleb was still fighting Stance, each boy armed with a practice lightsaber.</p><p>Stance was doing quite well, too. This obviously wasn’t the first time they’d done this.</p><p>Kark. This wasn’t the first time they’d done this.</p><p>Stance’s squad surrounded them, sitting in a loose circle on the grass. They watched interestedly as the spar progressed. Caleb seemed to be holding back, even coaching Stance a bit in his footwork and form as they fought.</p><p>Depa looked like she could feel a headache coming on.</p><p>Stance slipped up, eventually, and Caleb neatly disarmed him. He bowed in respect to Stance, and Stance bowed back, before Caleb turned to the other kids.</p><p>“Now,” He said, in a passable imitation of Depa’s teacher voice, “Who can tell me what Stance did well, and what he can do better?”</p><p>“Well,” Depa said, “He missed the chance to disarm you when you switched the grip on your lightsaber.”</p><p>Grey was glad she caught that, because he sure hadn’t. Maybe he should join the lesson. </p><p>Stance and Caleb both spun around with eyes wide. The rest of the squad snickered.</p><p>“If I inquire upon the provenance of that training saber, Padawan,” Depa continued, “Will I be too dismayed upon hearing the answer?”</p><p>Stance and Caleb looked at each other askance. They immediately pointed at each other.</p><p>“He did it!” They chorused. Depa sighed. Grey was glad for his helmet; he couldn’t contain a smile.</p><p>“Really,” Depa replied dryly. Caleb started to smile at her.</p><p>Caleb smiled much more often nowadays. It was just one more of the reasons Dantooine was so much better than the war.</p><p>“We borrowed them from some Initiates,” Caleb confessed, “But we always give them back afterward.”</p><p>“And how often do you teach saber lessons?” Depa continued to interrogate. Grey put effort into keeping his laughter from showing in his body language.</p><p>“Once a tenday,” Caleb replied promptly, “Members of the Jedi Order should know how to use our traditional weapon!”</p><p>And didn’t that just melt Grey into mush. Force, he loved his son.</p><p>“And you believe that a lesson only once a tenday will impart in them enough knowledge?” Depa asked archly.</p><p>Caleb shrugged.</p><p>“Well, the Initiates need their saber the rest of the time,” he said carefully.</p><p>That’s right, it was rest day for the Initiates and Littles, the day they got a respite from classes.</p><p>Depa started to suppress a smile.</p><p>“Ah, yes, we must not impair the initiate’s study. Luckily, there are spare practice sabers available for any Master who asks,” she held up the bag she had carried with her on their walk.</p><p>“How did you know?” Stance asked, eyes wide.</p><p>“A Jedi Master knows all,” Depa intoned, then smiled, “In this case, I saw you trading candy for the Initiates’ sabers this morning.”</p><p>Frighteningly observant, Depa.</p><p>His train of thought was interrupted by Depa tapping him on the shoulder. When he looked over at her, she pressed a training saber into his hand.</p><p>“Care to join the lesson, Grey?” She asked with a wink.</p><p>Well, there was only one answer to that, wasn’t there.</p><p>...</p><p>Depa smiled as she saw Grey eagerly take up the practice saber. Caleb was looking cautious but excited, and Stance and his squad were in various stages of smiling maniacally.</p><p>She turned to Caleb, and gestured for him to continue the lesson. He looked surprised, but nodded.</p><p>She watched as he went through the moves of a basic form, leading the squad and Grey through it after he’d demonstrated it twice, narrating as he went.</p><p>“High block- low thrust- parry- and repeat!”</p><p>The class mirrored him, as they went through the form. Caleb led them three times, and then stepped back and watched them perform it, giving small corrections as they went.</p><p>It was a format right out of Master Drallig’s lesson book, though Master Drallig was not known for making silly faces at his students.</p><p>Depa couldn’t help but notice that Caleb’s forms were smoother, as well; repetition, as well as the thoughtfulness teaching required one to have, had obviously been a benefit.</p><p>She could only approve.</p><p>Grey seemed to be enjoying himself, having shed his helmet on the advice of some of Stance’s squad. While a Clone Helmet’s field of vision was much greater than one would think looking at the outside, it still restricted some of the peripheral vision, and peripheral vision was important in a class of twelve overenthusiastic teenagers with laser swords.</p><p>Grey kept up admirably, though, and may have become a bit overenthusiastic himself if he hadn’t wanted to keep his dignity in front of the Shinies. No matter how old Stance and his squad got, they’d probably always be Shinies to him. Just like Caleb would always be the little wide-eyed Initiate she had asked to be her Padawan, to her.</p><p>Even if he was much more smart-mouthed and much less cute now.</p><p>Caleb led the class through three of the basic katas before calling an end to the training. Stance and his squad all groaned in dismay, but started to picked up their things from the edge of the trampled-down grass of their practice area.</p><p>Grey put his helmet on, and started tightening his belt. He’d had to loosen it, all the Clones had, in order to complete some of the more twisting forms.</p><p>She really should get Caleb to start convincing the Clones to wear robes, if they were doing lightsaber lessons. Clone armor was just not created with flexibility in mind; lightsaber exercises required lots of movement in the hips and trunk, which were heavily armored on your average Clone.</p><p>Maybe she could talk to the Wolfpack. They’d started to wear robes. If nothing else, she could try to convince Grey that anything the Wolfpack could do, their legion could do better.</p><p>Competition was one of the foremost Clone virtues.</p><p>Caleb was playing keep-away with Stance’s helmet, using the Force due to his height disadvantage. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Rico, one of Stance’s squadmates, snuck up behind her Padawan and surprised him in a headlock, giving him a noogie and grabbing enough of his attention for Stance’s helmet to drop into his waiting arms.</p><p>Grey laughed, and grabbed Rico in the same hold to ruffle his helmet. Rico protested, and Stance raced to defend his brother. So did the rest of the squad. Within minutes, the ground was covered with thirteen Clones and a Jedi Padawan wrestling.</p><p>Depa was content to smile at her family’s antics until an armored hand swept her off her feet, causing her to land on her back with the wind knocked out of her. She shot a glare at the suddenly frozen mass of men and boys, catching Grey and Caleb’s eyes where they were holding Stance down and ticking him between the armor plates, and launched herself playfully at them.</p><p>Now this, this meant war!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love reviews/favorite sentences/critiques/prompts! Thank you very much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. And The Strength of the Wolf is the Pack</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I was given several prompts on Akela meeting the rest of the Pack. I just couldn’t resist.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Akela seems to be my second most beloved OC so far, after Yma! I’m glad you like him!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Plo looked up from his papers to see Wolffe striding into the room. He nodded in greeting, and Wolffe nodded back, but looked out the door again.</p>
<p>“He won’t bite, kid,” he said to someone waiting outside.</p>
<p>“As I recall, you got your name because you were the one that bites,” Plo teased his son gently. Wolffe snorted at him, but his attention was focused on the person in the hall.</p>
<p>Plo saw why immediately, as a small child, a Clone Little, poked their head in with an expression of amazement.</p>
<p>“Really?” He asked Wolffe, eyes wide.</p>
<p>Wolffe nodded, resignedly, and then jerked as something occurred to him.</p>
<p>“That doesn’t mean you are allowed to bite people,” he said.</p>
<p>The Little nodded obediently.</p>
<p>Plo smiled, under his mask, and got up from his desk to greet the Little. Oddly enough, the child did not react until Wolffe spoke.</p>
<p>“On your left, Akela,” he murmured gently. Plo had been approaching from his left, well within a human field of vision, but the Little immediately spun to face him and smiled. Wolffe smiled with him.</p>
<p>Wolffe was smiling much more readily today. Something must have his son in a good mood.</p>
<p>“Buir,” He said, still smiling, “This is my son, Akela.”</p>
<p>Plo could feel his eyes widen. Wolffe had a son? Since when?</p>
<p>These questions were unimportant- he had much more vital things to be doing, like hugging his new grandson!</p>
<p>He made sure to telegraph his motion, as many of the Littles were still a bit jumpy around adults who were not Clones, as he picked up and gently hugged the child.</p>
<p>The Little made a small noise of surprise, before burrowing into Plo’s neck. Plo held him for a minute, and then shifted him to one arm so he could hug Wolffe with the other. His son had watched them, smiling, for that minute, and acquiesced to the hug readily.</p>
<p>“I’m very proud of you,” Plo told Wolffe, and then turned to the Little, “And I’m very excited to meet you, young one.”</p>
<p>The Little beamed up at him, though he turned his head a bit off center. Plo held his hand up to the boy’s cheek and was surprised when he startled. Wolffe took the child into his arms, and nodded reassuringly at them both.</p>
<p>“It’s alright, Buir, he just can’t see out of that eye. That’s why I adopted him, so I can help,” he rushed out.</p>
<p>Akela buried his blind side into Wolffe’s neck, watching Plo with a hint of wariness.</p>
<p>“My apologies, young one,” Plo rumbled carefully, holding his hand out where Akela could see it.</p>
<p>Akela reached out gently and grabbed Plo’s thumb. He examined the older Kel Dor’s hand with interest, fascinated by the four fingers. Plo felt his heart turn into mush for the umpteenth time in the last five minutes.</p>
<p>“It’s okay, ba’buir,” the child said, and Plo nearly melted then and there, “I just hurt it recently, is all.”</p>
<p>“How?” Plo asked, suddenly worried. The eye didn’t look injured; a little red, maybe.</p>
<p>“Bean bag to the face in Maimerball,” Wolffe murmured, “That’s how I met him.”</p>
<p>Plo grimaced. At least they didn’t use rocks.</p>
<p>Maybe he could see about getting some soft foam balls for the Littles?</p>
<p>He shook the thought away. He could think about requisitions later. Now, he needed to concentrate on hugging his son and grandson!</p>
<p>A thought occurred to him.</p>
<p>“Have you been introduced to the rest of the Pack?” He asked Akela. The child shook his head.</p>
<p>“I came by your office first,” Wolffe said a bit sheepishly, “And was planning to go to the Forward Officer’s Lounge next.”</p>
<p>“Well then! Let us perambulate!” Plo indicated the hallway to the lounge with a theatrical flourish. Akela giggled at him.</p>
<p>It was a truly lovely sound.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Katooni was doing her homework in the Officer’s Lounge with Comet, Boost, and Sinker when the door slid open, interrupting Sinker’s latest bad joke. She looked up to see her Master and Wolffe and an unidentified Little walk in, Wolffe holding the Little’s hand.</p>
<p>She had a suspicion. She knew perfectly well that Wolffe had a soft spot for Littles about the size of a small moon, which was why she did storytime with them.</p>
<p>“This is Akela,” Wolffe said, holding up the Little’s hand, “My son.”</p>
<p>Her suspicion was confirmed. She smiled welcomingly at Akela, but Boost beat her to a hug.</p>
<p>“I’m a ba’vodu? Since when? How old is he? Why didn’t you tell me, Wolffe?” He picked Akela, hugged him quickly, and swung the kid around by the armpits.</p>
<p>Akela looked mostly quite surprised. Not an unreasonable reaction to Boost at his highest setting.</p>
<p>Wolffe sighed, and signaled for Boost to put his son down. Akela looked ready to embrace the sweet, sweet ground by the time he was let go.</p>
<p>Katooni made sure to kneel and hug him with both his feet on the ground still. He hugged her back with a grateful expression.</p>
<p>“In order, since about seven last night, he’s three, and because I wanted to introduce you in person, not over a holocomm, and the kid needs rest before facing you. I certainly have trouble looking at your face if I haven’t had enough sleep,” Wolffe said dryly.</p>
<p>“We have the same face,” Comet said.</p>
<p>“No, I’m much more handsome than he is!” Sinker smiled, taking his turn to hug Akela. The Little was giggling in delight at the antics of his father and uncles, which really only egged them on.</p>
<p>“Girls, please,” Wolffe snorted, “I think we all know who the best-looking vod (1) is. Girls dig scars.”</p>
<p>He gestured to his eye.</p>
<p>“I don’t know who told you that, but they’re lying,” Katooni felt the need to chip in.</p>
<p>“You’re not a girl,” Wolffe waved her off, “You’re just a sister.”</p>
<p>Akela has gone from giggling to full on laughing. Wolffe swung him up in a hug, and settled the kid on his hip.</p>
<p>“Children, please, you’ll set a bad example,” Master said dryly, “And we all know I’m the handsomest here anyway.”</p>
<p>“Sure, Buir,” Wolffe said, “If you say so.”</p>
<p>“Why Wolffe, I’m offended!” Master gasped dramatically.</p>
<p>Wolffe grinned evilly. Katooni didn’t like that look.</p>
<p>“Hi Offended, I’m Wolffe,” he said, sticking out his hand. Sinker lost it, falling over laughing. Master merely regarded his son with a betrayed expression.</p>
<p>“He’s telling Dad jokes!” Shrieked Comet. Wolffe still had that evil smirk.</p>
<p>“Of course. It's inappropriate to make a 'dad joke' if you're not a dad. It's a faux pa,” he replied, inspecting his fingernails casually. Of course, this set Sinker off again.</p>
<p>“I can’t breathe!” He wheezed.</p>
<p>“Young man, fatherhood has gone to your head,” Master regained his wits. Wolffe smiled, shrugged, and hugged Akela tighter.</p>
<p>“Says the man who introduced me to most of those jokes,” he shot back.</p>
<p>Master shrugged, and then smiled.</p>
<p>“You come by it honestly, I suppose,” he said, “Now can I get to hold my grandson some more?”</p>
<p>Wolffe put Akela down, and he ran to his grandfather, still laughing. Katooni couldn’t help but smile, watching him.</p>
<p>And then she saw the absolutely sappy expression on Wolffe’s face and had to stifle a laugh. Her brother’s dream was coming true. She couldn’t help but be happy for him.</p>
<p>She made a mental note to see if she could get some candy. It was her duty as Aunt to give Akela sugar. And she could always give him back when he got hyper.</p>
<p>Aunt-hood was looking more and more fun by the minute.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Brother</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, you know that part of Wolffe’s extensive research on parenthood included dad jokes. If only to get revenge on his dad.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Why You Do Not Let R2-D2 Babysit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>R2 means well. It’s just that he has no clue what to do with human children.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My first introduction of Luke and Leia! Admittedly they don’t talk, but they’re cute!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>R2-D2 was very proud of himself. He had been given a mission! A very important mission!</p><p>Even if it wasn’t as exciting as flying a star fighter. But it was important!</p><p>“Artoo,” Anakin-Friend said, “Can you take the twins to the crèche for me? This is very important, Padmé and Obi-wan and I and everyone else have been called on a sudden mission. Can you do that?”</p><p>R2 tweeted an affirmative. He was given the remote control code for the twin’s antigrav hover cradles, and Anakin-Friend ran to catch up with Obi-Friend and Padmé-Friend and the rest of their Friends in a shuttle.</p><p>R2 watched them take off, wishing he could go with, and explode things, but he had an Important Mission! He tweedled with purpose as he directed the hover cradles to follow him across the grasslands.</p><p>Anakin-Friend had said to take Luke-Prototype and Leia-Prototype to the crèche. He searched his databanks for the crèche, and came up with only the definition of the word. ‘A place for child rearing.” Child rearing was prototype testing, R2 knew that, but it didn’t help him at all.</p><p>Stupid dictionary. It wasn’t specific enough. Any place was a place for prototype testing, depending on the function of the prototype. Luke-prototype’s main function, for example, seemed to be eating and sleeping and creating organic waste, with the occasional vocalization. Leia-prototype seemed to be slightly more advanced, being able to do all these things with an additional function of creating ear-splitting noise at irregular intervals.</p><p>Why humans wanted such inconvenient prototypes was beyond R2, but that was organics for you. Anakin-Friend and Padmé-Friend loved their prototypes very much, so there must be some value in them.</p><p>Padmé-Friend did not suffer fools lightly. R2 had always enjoyed watching her talk to other organics to make them do what she wanted them to. And Anakin-Friend was smart; he was as close as an organic could get to being a droid. He even had a droid arm! He was certainly worthy of R2’s respect.</p><p>So he would watch over their prototypes, and put them in a good place for prototype testing until Anakin-Friend and Padmé-Friend came back and could resume testing themselves.</p><p>Now to find a good place.</p><p>He saw some Identical Humans walking past. Identical Humans were good and helpful, and they did their best to make sure Anakin-Friend was safe. R2 had even made friends with some! Rex-Friend was a little short with him, but treated him well enough.</p><p>Behind the Identical Humans were smaller Identical Humans. They looked to be in around Beta-testing stage. Maybe they knew where the prototypes were kept! He followed the Beta-tests, and directed the cradles to follow them too.</p><p>The Beta-tests did know where prototypes were kept, and R2 didn’t even need to ask. They passed a big room full of them, put neatly into baskets that didn’t move. R2 puttered around a bit, until he found two baskets that were empty, side by side. He gently maneuvered the hover cradles less than two centimeters over the empty baskets. He had to be careful with this, prototypes were very fragile! He opened the front, and slowly tipped the cradles forward and drifted them back so the prototypes were laid in the baskets. Luke-Prototype didn’t even wake up, and Leia-Prototype merely blinked at him.</p><p>His work here was done! He took the cradles with him, back to Anakin-Friend’s room, to stow until the prototypes needed them again.</p><p>Mission accomplished!</p><p>...</p><p>Anakin was suddenly very awake.</p><p>It had been a horrible long mission, filled with negotiation and warfare in varying intensities, and he’d been glad that Obi-wan and Padmé were there to talk to the diplomats so he didn’t have to worry about doing that as well as fighting some leftover battle droids some asteroid baron had reprogrammed to terrorize his neighbors. He had nearly fallen asleep in the shuttle multiple times, but he wanted to get back to his own bed, not a durasteel bench.</p><p>He’d stumbled to the crèche in the Starbird and asked for his kids back. The attendant had given him and odd look.</p><p>“Your children aren’t here, Knight Skywalker,” she said in confusion. And just like that Anakin thought he may never sleep again.</p><p>“What do you mean you don’t have my children? I sent them with my astromech droid a ten day ago!” He yelled. The attendant gave him a flat look, though she softened seeing his worry.</p><p>“We didn’t see them ten days ago, and we don’t have them now,” she explained gently, “Perhaps talk to your droid?”</p><p>Anakin didn’t hear anything else she said. He was too busy sprinting for the Resolute.</p><p>“Artoo!” He yelled, bursting into his quarters. The droid beeped at him cheerfully in greeting.</p><p>“Where are Luke and Leia, Artoo?” He asked desperately.</p><p>In the human-prototype testing facility, Artoo beeped back.</p><p>“The school? Why the school?” Anakin could feel his panic fading. Minutely. Okay, it wasn’t fading at all.</p><p>No, the Identical Human-prototype testing facility, Artoo let an annoyed whistle out.</p><p>“Can you take me to them?” Anakin asked desperately. Artoo booped an affirmative and started leading him out.</p><p>“Faster!” He urged. Where were his kids?</p><p>R2, agreeably, engaged his jets. They passed Padmé in the hallway, along with Rex and Ahsoka.</p><p>“Where are you going?” Padmé called.</p><p>“The kids!” Anakin yelled back. Next thing he knew, they were following him.</p><p>R2 led them to one of the Clone Nurseries, one of the old bays that had been modified to nurture newly-decanted Clone infants.</p><p>“You took them here?” Anakin gasped at R2. He was calming, visions of his kids left all alone for a week dissipating from his brain. He sighed in relief. The Clones would take care of his kids.</p><p>They are human prototypes, this is a facility for human prototype testing, Artoo blatted back in irritation. Padmé had caught up with them enough hear Anakin’s words.</p><p>“Anakin, it occurs to me to ask,” she said calmly, “Does Artoo know where the Crèche is?”</p><p>“Whoops,” Rex muttered. Smart-shebs.</p><p>They entered to find the large bay full of activity. It was about half-full of bassinets, and half empty, with blankets adhered to the floors for carpet. It was full of Clone Tinies in little homemade onesies, being cared for by adult Clones.</p><p>“General!” One of the Clones jumped up from playing with a group of Tinies and adults and approached. It was Uplink, one of his slicers from the war. He’d started looking out for the kids; apparently the patience necessary for slicing worked out well in childcare too.</p><p>“Uplink,” He said, trying not to lash out at the man, “I’m looking for my kids.”</p><p>“A blond boy, and a girl?” Uplink nodded, “Showed up a tenday ago?”</p><p>Anakin could feel himself near-collapse in relief.</p><p>“You have them?” He asked, just to reassure himself. Uplink modded, and started to lead them to a corner of the bay. He stopped by a group of Tinies having floor time, supervised by another two Clones. He leaned over and picked up a blond infant, and handed him to Anakin. He bent over again, probably having a difficult time picking dark-haired Leia out from the baby Clones.</p><p>“We found them a tenday ago, they were put with a squad that was short two kids,” he said, locating Leia.</p><p>“We were pretty confused about the random babies just appearing out of thin air, but we figured it out. Blondie’s pretty easy to keep entertained, especially if you put him with Girlie or one of the Tinies, and Girlie’s manageable. She’s easier to change than the Tinies and Blondie,” he said.</p><p>Anakin grimaced. He had gotten pretty familiar with the hazards of changing baby boys.</p><p>Padmé reached for Leia, and Uplink handed her over. Anakin finally let himself relax, hunching over Luke and kissing his forehead. Rex was trying to hide a snicker. Anakin wasn’t bothering to hide hers.</p><p>“Only you, Skyguy, only you,” she giggled. Anakin tried to muster a glare, but he was too relieved. He was home, his kids were okay, and they were safe. Problem solved. He could sleep now.</p><p>He and Padmé turned to go with the twins in their arms. They got three steps away before Leia started crying. Then another two, and Luke started wailing. That was unusual. Luke rarely screamed like he was doing right now.</p><p>They continued until they heard the screaming behind them. Anakin turned around, to look, only to see Uplink still standing by the squad of Tinies he had taken the twins from. They were inconsolable.</p><p>Anakin felt movement in his arms, and looked down only to see Luke, still crying, reaching for the squad. Leia was teaching too, and the infant Clones were reaching back.</p><p>Anakin felt his brain make the connection and suddenly felt much more tired again.</p><p>Uplink looked up as he approached, holding two Tinies and trying to comfort them.</p><p>“Is it alright if I leave them here for a little while longer?” Anakin asked, giving a yawn. Uplink nodded uncertainly. Anakin gently put Luke down on the rug with the other babies, and then found he didn’t want to get up. The rug wasn’t that uncomfortable. He just stretched out his arm, careful not to hit anyone, and the last thing he saw was Uplink smiling confusedly at him as he put the suddenly much happier Tinies back down.</p><p>Then he just knew warm oblivion.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, reader poll: <br/>Kanan Bound, the third work in this series, has formatting issues. I wrote it before I figured out how to get the space-after-paragraphs thing to work. It’s been bugging me whenever I look at it, but I don’t want to give a false update. <br/>Is there a way to update the format without registering as updating the work? Is there etiquette for this?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. What Is a Mandalorian</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this one is less fluffy, more worldbuilding. It codifies what I’m using as a framework for Mandalorian culture and history, and wraps it in philosophical discussion, angst, and hurt-comfort with some humor. <br/>I think I’ll call it a YoungestThunderbird special.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Obi-wan has just finished talking with Caltrops, the Clone in charge of Cadet Squad Rho-36, and was archiving his notes on the conversation. He carefully filed them away by category, name of conversational partner, and date, added a couple of points to his to-do list, and then looked at the next person on the waiting list.</p><p>It was his Open Door Day, a two-hour period in which anyone, Clone or Jedi alike, could come to his office and talk about anything they wanted. Subjects as serious as the Cadet’s training and education or as frivolous as how awful the rations tasted were all acceptable. Obi-wan would listen, and sometimes suggest a solution to a problem presented, or refer the person to another who could better help them. The system had worked so far.</p><p>His waiting list was nearly empty; it was reaching the end of the time slot. There was only one name at the top. He read it, blinked, and read it again. The blocky digital writing still said Boba Fett.</p><p>He looked out to the hall, and sure enough, there was the boy sitting on the somewhat uncomfortable chairs in front of his office. He was holding a small black datapad to his chest, sitting up straight, taking pains not to fidget.</p><p>He looked like a young child trying desperately to look like a grown up.</p><p>“Come in,” He said warmly, “May I call you Boba?”</p><p>The boy looked at him in surprise, put off balance, and nodded. Obi-wan smiled at him.</p><p>“Excellent! Call me Obi-wan,” he continued, trying to out the boy at ease, “What may I help you with today?”</p><p>Boba sat down on the seat in front of his desk, still a little uncertain, but more confident. He carefully put the small black datapad in front of him, on the desk.</p><p>“This is what my dad gave me,” he said, tapping the pad, “In case he died.”</p><p>He indicated for Obi-wan to look through it, and it seemed to be a fairly comprehensive manual on bounty hunting. Decently written, too, and carefully annotated by Boba as well as some others.</p><p>“It’s a quite useful book,” Obi-wan noted idly. Boba shook his head.</p><p>“All he talks about is hunting,” he disagreed, “There’s nothing else in there. There’s no family history, there’s no language, there’s no culture.”</p><p>He looked Obi-wan in the eye.</p><p>“My father was Mandalorian,” he said fiercely, “He was Mandalor (1)! So why didn’t he tell me anything about where we came from?”</p><p>Obi-wan couldn’t help but notice the odd inflection on ‘Mandalor;’ it was spoken with the accent of someone who had only read the word.</p><p>Oh, Boba.</p><p>“I couldn’t tell you, Boba,” he said gently, “I only met him for maybe a half an hour, total, and he was trying to kill me most of the time. You were helping, remember?”</p><p>Boba grimaced but nodded.</p><p>“Sorry about that,” he murmured.</p><p>“Apology accepted!” Obi-wan said cheerfully, “You’re the first person in a while to actually apologize, you know? You have excellent manners!”</p><p>Boba looked at him like he had grown a second head. Maybe Boba’s manners were not as good as Obi-wan had thought.</p><p>“Do you have any idea why he didn’t tell me anything? I just learned from Master Nu that my grandfather was also Mandalor, I didn’t even know I had a grandfather!” Boba was starting to get emotional. Obi-wan held out his hand, and Boba grasped it like a lifeline.</p><p>“I can only tell you what I know, due to my own ties to Mandalore and the research I have done,” Obi-wan traced his bracers with his finger. Unlike the rest of his armor, it was Beskar’gam (2), repainted to match the white of the plastoid the rest of his armor was made of. It was the one thing he had allowed himself to keep from his time with Satine.</p><p>“Your grandfather, the one I presume Master Nu told you of, was Jaster Mereel. He was a Journeyman Protector whose strong morals led him to be disillusioned with the then-current system of Mandalore, and aimed to reform it. He created a Code of Honor called the Supercommando Codex, which called Mandalorian warriors to be as moral as they were ruthless, to become elite mercenaries and honorable soldiers instead of mere bounty hunters who didn’t care which side of the law they were working on,” Obi-wan began.</p><p>Boba’s eyes were as big as saucers. Obi-wan absently wondered if Jango Fett had ever looked up at Jaster Mereel like that. It was hard to imagine the disillusioned, cynical bounty hunter he had met when he was Boba’s size.</p><p>“The Supercommando Codex, in my personal opinion, was sorely needed at the time as a middle ground between senseless violence and utter capitulation to the whims of others. I’ve read it, and even use some of the principles in my own life; it actually meshes with the Jedi Code quite well,” Obi-wan continued. He stopped, noticing that he was starting to lose Boba, so he merely sent a copy of the Codex to the black datapad in Boba’s hand. Boba looked at it like it was a treasure.</p><p>“Like every other reformer in history, Mereel met opposition. From the New Mandalorians, who repudiated all forms of violence, and also from the Death Watch, a violent sect that refused oversight from anyone who was not them. Guess which one caused more trouble,” Obi-wan smiled sadly.</p><p>“No bet,” Boba returned.</p><p>“Your father’s parents were farmers, and did some Journeyman Protector work on the side; Journeyman Protectors, at the time, worked somewhat like governmentally backed bounty hunters, and fulfilled many of the functions of the police force,” Obi-wan explained when he saw Boba’s confusion. He sighed, the easy part was over.</p><p>“Your father’s parents and sister were killed, during a Death Watch raid to try to find Mereel. Your father survived, and Mereel adopted him. They lived for years on the run with their band of loyal commandos until Mereel was betrayed by one of their own and killed. Jango became the Mandalor, we believe, at this time.</p><p>“Less than a year after this, the True Mandalorians were led into a trap by Death Watch. They were contracted for a job on a planet called Galidraan. They set up camp there, and began to do their job. Meanwhile, the Jedi had been told that a terrorist camp had been set up and that it was killing civilians, children. The Senate ordered a strike team, so we sent a group of about forty Jedi led by Master Dooku.”</p><p>Boba’s face was twisting into horror. Perceptive child. Obi-wan nodded, solemnly.</p><p>“It is one of the darkest days in living memory of our Order to this day,” he said quietly, “That we did not ask questions, but merely went in and killed nearly every warrior in the camp. Your father was the only known survivor of the True Mandalorians. Dooku gave him over to the Governor, who gave him over to Death Watch, who sold him into slavery.”</p><p>Boba looked like he was about to cry. Maybe he shouldn’t have told him. Obi-wan reached for his kerchief, and handed it over.</p><p>Boba clutched the hangerchief for a while, and then looked up and straightened his back, steeling himself.</p><p>“Where did I and my brothers come from, if he was in slavery?” He asked.</p><p>Maybe he should stop referring to Boba as a child. By some Mandalorian traditions, he was an adult.</p><p>“At some point, he freed himself, and took work as a bounty hunter. He was hired by Dooku after this point in time to create the Clone Army,” Obi-wan said quietly.</p><p>“He took work from the man who killed his family?” Boba returned, even quieter.</p><p>Obi-wan nodded, and rubbed the sides of his temples.</p><p>“There may have been intermediaries, or Dooku could have used a mind trick, or the idea of vengeance on all the Jedi was too much to resist, or your father could simply not have recognized a man he had seen for less than three hours twenty years later under a different name. It’s impossible to say,” he sighed.</p><p>Boba nodded, and pulled the small black datapad into his lap again, and began to read the Supercommando Codex file that Obi-wan had sent him.</p><p>That particular version of the Codex also included the Resol’nare, as well as some documents from the Mandalorian Crusaders that Jaster Mereel had annotated and critiqued.</p><p>Obi-wan enjoyed the writings of Jaster Mereel. He wished he could have met the man, and asked him some questions. How do you balance due process with irrefutable proof of wrongdoing? How do you ensure the morality of the individual in a system based on self-regulation?</p><p>He had first read those writings on Mandalore, with Satine. At this time, they had not seemed just to him. What honor was there in killing your enemies? Honor was in reconciliation, in diplomacy, in rebuilding, in creating a new society from the ruins of the old. Honor was refusing to stoop to their level. Honor was being everything a Jedi should be, kind and forgiving and merciful.</p><p>He had been naive then. It had taken years before he knew just how much.</p><p>The first inkling of how wrong he had been was Maul, the first time, after Naboo. Maul was an enemy who could absolutely not be talked down, who would never stop hurting people unless he was stopped. There was no reconciliation with him. He would just kill the negotiator, the diplomat, the speaker coming under a flag of peace, and then go on to kill everything they were trying to protect.</p><p>So Obi-wan stopped him. Not as permanently as he should have, but for a time, at least.</p><p>After that catastrophic battle, after the first salvo in a war a thousand years in the making, Obi-wan was disturbed. None of the recent Jedi writings dealt with such an action; the killing of an enemy who will not reason. In the last few centuries, very few Jedi had met evil that they could not overpower non-lethally if it wouldn’t bargain. And didn’t that say something about their Order, that they were willing to entreat with the Devil to save themselves hardship.</p><p>And the writings of the Sith Wars were available, but he was starting to get sidelong glances from old Masters who were loudly concerned about his perceived obsession with the Sith who had killed his Master. He didn’t want to make that worse.</p><p>So Obi-wan turned to the writings of Mandalore, as he remembered some of the teachings from his time there that suddenly made much more sense. He read everything the Temple had, from the Creed of the Death Watch to the New Mandalorian Charter, the Canons of Honor from the Mandalorian Crusaders, and then the modified Honor Canons of the Neocrusaders. He still got slantwise looks, but it was easier to reassure nosy Masters that he was simply reading up on their other ancient enemy to balance his research of the Sith.</p><p>However, the single document that aligned with Obi-wan’s new understanding of the world most was the Supercommando Codex. The idea that honor lay in protecting yourself and others through force of arms if necessary was an intriguing one, and one that lay much closer to the Jedi Code than he had thought as a youth. There was very little differentiating Jaster Mereel‘s idea of an honorable mercenary, and Obi-wan Kenobi’s idea of an honorable Jedi. Except for payment, of course. </p><p>But even the tips on salary negotiation were useful for making treaties.</p><p>If Obi-wan had not been sworn to the Jedi Code since he was thirteen, he probably would have sworn the Resol’nare. As it was, he had contented himself with considering Anakin his vod, and their lineage and his crèchemates his aliit, and following what teaching he found applicable to himself.</p><p>And then there had been the men, the Clones, not quite Mandalorian as well, but in different ways. Obi-wan had the raising of Anakin, though he was not Mandalorian either, and tribe, and self defense, but could not follow the Mandalor even if there had been one, and knew the language but did not use it, and wore no armor, as he was a servant of peace. The Clones had the language, and the armor, and the self-defense, and the tribe; but they were also sworn to the Republic, not the Mandalor, and could not raise children.</p><p>And then they had fought together, and given each other what the other did not have, and suddenly Obi-wan found himself wearing armor and speaking Mando’a, and the 212th found themselves trying to keep Ahsoka and then Zatt out of trouble.</p><p>Probably the only thing keeping them from the Resol’nare now was a Mandalor.</p><p>He shook himself from his thoughts as Cody walked in, and paused with his eyebrow up when he saw Boba.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody walked into Obi-wan’s office after Open Door hours to find he still had a visitor, and a visitor he wasn’t expecting at that. Sat quietly on the little chair in front of the General was Boba Fett, studiously reading from a small black datapad.</p><p>“Good afternoon, Cody,” Obi-wan greeted, easily. Well, at least Cody knew it wasn’t something bad Boba was here for.</p><p>“Afternoon, Obi-wan,” he returned, “Is he bothering you?”</p><p>He smiled to take the sting out of his words, but still got a short glare before Boba was reabsorbed in his data pad. Cody wondered what was on it, absently.</p><p>“Not at all, Cody,” his older brother smiled, “He actually has excellent manners! He apologized for trying to kill me just before the beginning of the war. And here I had thought civility had left the galaxy entirely, no one’s apologized for that kind of bad manners for years.”</p><p>Cody blinked at Obi-wan. So did Boba.</p><p>“It’s bad manners to try to kill someone,” Cody said slowly.</p><p>Obi-wan nodded.</p><p>“It’s so very uncivilized,” he said, “But if you apologize, like you would for any other breach in etiquette, the slight is forgiven.”</p><p>“Obi-wan,” Cody sighed, “It’s more than just bad manners if someone wants to kill you. How would if feel if someone wanted to kill Zatt?”</p><p>“Well, that’s different, of course! Zatt’s a child!” Obi-wan objected. Boba was still looking at Obi-wan in horrified fascination.</p><p>“Are all the Jedi like this?” He asked, like someone watching a speeder wreck, “I didn’t think Shaak was like this.”</p><p>“No, I got a special di’kut,” Cody replied dryly.</p><p>Boba blinked, and scowled at him. What had Cody done to set him off?</p><p>“Di’kut means someone of less than stellar intelligence,” Obi-wan said gently, and gave a mock glare to Cody, “Which I am not.”</p><p>“Oh, like Han,” Boba nodded, then gave Cody an intense look.</p><p>Cody had stepped in something, he knew it, more than just calling Obi-wan an idiot. If that was something this bad, well, he’d have been in trouble a long time ago.</p><p>He turned his gaze to Boba, who was still looking at him with a scowl. But it wasn’t an angry one, or it wasn’t just anger, it was... jealousy? Why would Boba be jealous of him? Boba was Prime’s son, he had what everyone else had wanted at one time or another.</p><p>“What’d I do this time, vod’ika?” He asked. Boba’s scowl deepened, and his eyes flickered over to Obi-wan expectantly.</p><p>“Little brother,” Obi-wan said. Obi-wan was translating for Boba. Boba didn’t know Mando’a.</p><p>Kark.</p><p>Maybe Boba hadn’t had everything the Clones wanted after all.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he apologized awkwardly, “I might not be Mr. Manners here,” he looked flatly at Obi-wan, “But even I know speaking in a language someone doesn’t know is rude.”</p><p>Boba nodded, still scowling. Obi-wan sighed.</p><p>“I was just giving Boba a small history lesson,” he said, “And then I gave him a copy of the Supercommando Codex to read.”</p><p>Cody smiled.</p><p>“The plain copy, or the translation with original text and commentary you gave me?” He asked. Obi-wan had shared the Codex with him when he mentioned that he wanted to learn more about Mandalore, and more about the honor that his older brother held in such high regard.</p><p>“The one with commentary, and with your notes, actually,” Obi-wan replied. Cody grimaced. He’d been so excited to read something that was not a regs manual, he wrote notes on the passages he liked. He hadn’t realized, at the time, that the notes synced across all devices with that copy of the holobook.</p><p>He’d been so embarrassed when Obi-wan had started writing back. Then, though, he had just enjoyed discussing the commentary.</p><p>They’d had quite an interesting digital debate about whether the Codex was a religious document.</p><p>Cody maintained that it was, as traditional Mandalorian customs dictated that only Mandalorians had souls, and their souls could be forfeit if one became dar’manda (3).</p><p>Obi-wan maintained that it was a moral and civil document, as it did not deal with matters of the soul but rather matters of the physical plane. His main defense was that many Mandalorians were culturally Mandalorian, but not religious; one could wear the armor without believing it granted them a soul.</p><p>Boba raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“These are your notes?” He asked.</p><p>“Mine and Obi-wan’s, yes,” Cody said cautiously.</p><p>“Huh,” Boba shrugged, and went back to reading. He didn’t seem too eager to leave, and Obi-wan didn’t seem to want to kick him out, so Cody simply sat down on his habitual chair and began to do paperwork.</p><p>They passed the time signing the endless forms that somehow were still their lot in life, as well as making light conversation. Boba evidently finished reading whatever was on the tablet in front of him, and just sat and watched them for a while.</p><p>Cody wondered if he wished Jango was here, talking with the Jedi, instead of him.</p><p>“You were his favorite, you know,” Boba said suddenly.</p><p>Cody blinked at him, carefully unaffected, even though he knew who Boba was talking about. There was only one ‘him’ that affected both of their lives like the weight of Boba’s words suggested.</p><p>And Boba was wrong.</p><p>“I was his pet,” Cody said bluntly, “A favorite droid, something that reminded him of someone else. He never saw me as a person.”</p><p>He wrapped one hand around his wrist, absently, trying to keep it from twitching. Boba was staring at him in shock, while Obi-wan’s gaze held less surprise, and more horror.</p><p>“He told me about you,” Boba said, quietly, “Said you were the best of them all.”</p><p>Cody scrubbed his face with his hands, and then locked them together in his lap so they wouldn’t get out of control.</p><p>“If you told me that five years ago, Boba, it would have meant the world,” he said, “But it was all hollow. He didn’t love me, not like he loved you; he was my hero, then, and he didn’t even acknowledge my humanity. And then he betrayed us, and died in the act, and I couldn’t think about it anymore,” he said.</p><p>His voice was starting to shake. His control was better than this!</p><p>Obi-wan reached out and took his hand, but didn’t move closer. Cody appreciated it; when he got like this, he needed his space.</p><p>Boba was still looking up at him, with wide eyes.</p><p>“But you still love him,” he said, “You’re sad.”</p><p>Cody exerted conscious control over his lip, to keep it from wobbling. He nodded, not trusting his voice.</p><p>“Oh, Cody,” he heard Obi-wan murmur, and squeeze his hand a bit. The surprising thing was Boba coming forward, and taking his other hand.</p><p>“I miss him too,” Boba said, quietly and hesitantly. Cody sighed, and slung his arm over Boba’s shoulders.</p><p>“I’m not like you, kid,” he said, accepting the wobble in his voice, “Not in his eyes. But I’ll admit I miss him, and I wish he had not died if only for your sake.”</p><p>Boba put his arm around Cody’s shoulders, hesitantly. Cody squeezed Boba in return.</p><p>“He never taught me Mando’a,” Boba said, “Never told me the things he told you.”</p><p>“He was probably trying to spare you pain, somehow,” Cody replied, “He got this expression on his face when he was teaching us, far away and hurt, like I’ve seen some of my brothers have when someone reminds them of a lost squadmate.”</p><p>And Jango had been half-convinced, by the end, that everything Mandalorian was cursed. He’d stopped teaching them the language, and the history, and hated it when they sang Vode An in front of him.</p><p>He’d written them that song as a way to trick the Jedi into thinking they were people. He’d told Cody that himself, and Cody had not corrected him. It after a time, he’d stopped looking Cody in the eyes when he insisted that Cody wasn’t a person.</p><p>Cody wondered if he’d figured it out, then. Now he’d never know.</p><p>“Some things are worth a little pain,” Boba murmured.</p><p>“I guess they are,” Cody said, and startled as Obi-wan put his arm across his shoulders, on top of Boba’s.</p><p>“Can you give me lessons?” Boba said, suddenly, again.</p><p>Cody looked at him, blankly.</p><p>“Why don’t you ask Colt?” He asked, reserving judgement.</p><p>“I love Colt,” Boba shrugged, “But he absolutely cannot sit still if he is not unconscious.”</p><p>Well, that was true. He loved Colt, he was a good brother who seemed determined to adopt everyone, but he wasn’t great at the whole not-fidgeting thing. There was no quit in the man, every day was go, go, go. He wondered how General Ti kept up.</p><p>“And I should learn this,” Boba said, stroking the datapad reverently, “It’s something from my people, and it was important to my father and grandfather, and maybe it can help me find my way.”</p><p>Cody nodded. He couldn’t argue that logic.</p><p>“Alright,” he said, “The first word you should know is vod, which means brother...”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. The Mandalorian leader. <br/>2. Mandalorian armor, made out of Beskar, an ultra strong/blasterproof metal with mystical and spiritual ties in Mandalorian culture. <br/>3. No longer Mandalorian, cast out, soulless.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Of Trabbits and Troopers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ahsoka makes some new friends.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was one of the ones I thought about as I was writing down my notes; I wanted to flesh out Ahsoka as a carnivore and a pursuit predator, simply because I can. <br/>Why have aliens if you can’t make them alien?</p><p>Warning: depictions of hunting, and the eating of hunted meat. <br/>I don’t know if that’s harmful to anyone, but just so you know.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It didn’t start as much of anything, Ahsoka thought. She had taken her usual morning run, to keep in shape, and had seen a trabbit, one of the small grassland mammals native to Dantooine.</p><p>She hadn’t had a good chase in a while, so she decided to hunt it. It was great fun, chasing the trabbit at her top speed, and when she felt herself tiring she let the trabbit go. She had enough to eat, and most of her goal was to really run and chase.</p><p>She enjoyed running with her family, but her family was mostly human. They could run much longer than she could, but not nearly as fast. Poor Zatt could keep up with them, but it was always difficult for him.</p><p>But then again, he left them in his bubbles when they were in the water.</p><p>She enjoyed the little hunt, and started to do it regularly on her runs. It was good for her agility, she reasoned, and it increased her stamina. She’d stopped hunting the Clones a year ago, as her instincts started to sharpen with the onset of adulthood. She was afraid of her new, lethal reflexes causing her to hurt her brothers, so she didn’t have anything to hunt other than the wildlife. And it wasn’t like it was hurting the trabbit; she always let them go afterward.</p><p>Well, almost always. It was just this morning, she’d not been quite as awake, and the trabbit had zigged right in front of her, and she’d forgotten to eat before running- and the end result was a very still trabbit laying on the grass, and the taste of meat in her mouth.</p><p>She’d forgotten how good real meat tasted.</p><p>She wiped her mouth emarassedly and looked around, hoping no one saw her indiscretion. It was perfectly natural, but quite uncivilized.</p><p>No such luck. She saw a squad of Clone Shinies staring at her in fascination from around fifty feet away. They started to jog over once they were spotted.</p><p>“That was awesome!” Proclaimed the lead Clone. They all looked around eighteen, and were starting to develop their own personal differentiating marks; one had dyed hair, another had a homemade necklace, and another two had tattoos.</p><p>“Sorry,” she muttered, wiping the blood off her mouth.</p><p>“What for?!” Gestured the Clone, “You were running, and then you pounced, and then you bit it, in three seconds! So cool!”</p><p>“Is it any good?” Asked another shiny interestedly. She nodded, cautiously.</p><p>“Can I try?” The same shiny asked. The leader cuffed him around the back of the head.</p><p>“Don’t mind Hanker, here, he’s always hungry,” he tried to excuse his brother.</p><p>Ahsoka looked at the trabbit. They were decent-sized animals, this one was maybe 20 kilos, and still fat from the summer.</p><p>“I can share,” she said, and got out her lightsaber. If cut thin enough, and at the right speed, by a lightsaber, meat would be safe to eat.</p><p>The things she learned campaigning with Anakin Will-Eat-Live-Bugs Skywalker.</p><p>Of course, the Shinies’ eyes got even wider as they watched. She held out the first chunk of meat to the leader, and passed the rest to the others. Hanker sank his teeth his piece and moaned in delight.</p><p>“It’s so much better than the rations!” He said, through his mouthful of meat.</p><p>“Color me surprised,” the leader deadpanned back at him, before taking a bite himself. His eyes widened.</p><p>“Okay, Hanker’s right,” He said.</p><p>“Can I have that in writing?” Hanker said innocently.</p><p>“No, you menace,” the leader replied fondly.</p><p>“Aw, Boss!” Hanker protested, mockingly. Ahsoka passed him another hunk of meat, as evidently his mouth was not busy enough. He quieted, to the snickers of his brothers.</p><p>It was an enjoyable period of her morning, passing around meat and sharing jokes. However, when the trabbit had been reduced to a carcass, Ahsoka excused herself, the Shinies waved at her in farewell, and they went their separate ways.</p><p>She thought that was the end of it, and it was, for a while. But the next tenday, on her run, she ran across those same Shinies again; this time, they were running after their own trabbit.</p><p>Unsuccessfully, mind, but their persistence was admirable.</p><p>The trabbit ran faster than they did, and would have disappeared into the bush if Ahsoka hadn’t pounced quickly and broken its neck.</p><p>“Thanks, Sir,” The leader panted at her, “We’ve been trying to catch one for an hour. They’re quick little karkers.”</p><p>“I’m not a Sir, my name’s Ahsoka,” she said, “What’s yours?”</p><p>“I’m Boss, that’s Hanker, Dell, Trio, Jenkins, Sandy, Dusty, Muddy, Orion, ‘45, Eek, and Wentworth,” the leader introduced his brothers with the typical Clone hodgepodge of names, “We’re squad Epsilon-33.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you, again,” Ahsoka said, “But why were you trying to chase trabbits?”</p><p>“They taste nice,” Hanker said, “And it looked a lot easier when you did it.”</p><p>“Well, that’s because I’m built for chasing,” Ahsoka said, “You’re not.”</p><p>“Sorry,” she added, after seeing their offended looks.</p><p>“What do you mean, we’re fighting fit!” Jenkins flexed his arm. Ahsoka shook her head, and started to follow the squad when they motioned for her to. Dusty (or maybe Sandy) had picked up the trabbit and started to walk purposefully toward a tent in the distance.</p><p>“I mean you’re adapted for persistence hunting,” Ahsoka said, “And I’m a pursuit predator.”</p><p>She got blank looks.</p><p>“My species chases our prey very fast,” she said, with a sigh, “And your species gets better results chasing your prey slower and longer and waiting for it to tire itself out.”</p><p>“Really,” Boss said blankly, as they reached a rudimentary campsite. There was a souped-up heat lamp in the center, with a griddle over it.</p><p>Orion skinned and cleaned the trabbit quickly, taking a decent-sized chunk of raw meat off it and setting it aside, and turned the rest over to Trio to put on the grill. They turned on the lamp, and the meat soon began to sizzle.</p><p>“There’s nothing to burn out here,” Dusty explained as she watched the meat cook, “So we talked to some of our brothers who specialize in survival missions.”</p><p>“That’s where you learned to process the trabbit?” Ahsoka asked, idly.</p><p>“Survival training,” Dell grimaced. Ahsoka did not press further.</p><p>The meat was soon ready, and Trio soon began to cut chunks off to pass around. Orion handed Ahsoka the raw portion he had set aside earlier, and they began to eat and talk again. Ahsoka found herself enjoying the easy camaraderie, and the silly jokes the boys told to make each other and her laugh. The morning passed quickly, and enjoyably, and this time she found herself asking if she’d see them next tenday.</p><p>“Of course!” ‘45 grinned, “We wouldn’t pass this up for triple rations!”</p><p>Everyone made a face, and laughed.</p><p>It started to be an unofficial meet; every tenday, Ahsoka and the squad would hunt, they would eat together, and talk. And Ahsoka found herself making friends with these boys, thinking of them during the week whenever someone complained about the rations.</p><p>As time went on, and the days began to turn again, Ahsoka contemplated her impending Knighthood, and probably leaving the nest after that. Rex had told her she would be getting her own legion. She thought about asking them to transfer with her.</p><p>Then she got Togrutan Flu.</p><p>...</p><p>Ahsoka was plain miserable, Rex could see that. Togrutan Flu was a sickness specific to her species that targeted her montrals, as well as the normal sore throat and runny nose. The infection was making them sore and inflexible, which messed with her hearing and balance in a huge way. She could barely stand, certainly not without aid.</p><p>Mostly, she just lay on her berth muttering and groaning, with someone to watch her and sponge down her montrals occasionally with warm water to try and give her some comfort. It was currently Rex’s shift, and he couldn’t say he like seeing his little sister feeling this bad. However, she’d feel this bad whether he was here or not, and he didn’t want her to suffer alone.</p><p>He reached for the bowl of warm water water again, only to be surprised by the door opening. He looked up to meet the surprised eyes of a Shiny, holding his helmet in his hand.</p><p>“Is she going to be okay?” the Shiny asked, quietly. Rex nodded in confusion. He hadn’t known Ahsoka was close with any Shinies.</p><p>The Shiny’s shoulders slumped in relief, and he put his helmet on quickly to relay the news to someone else. He took it off quickly as well, though, it was rude to have your helmet on in front of a superior officer who didn’t have his.</p><p>Rex snorted. If someone had told him three years ago that Clones would start developing an etiquette system, he’d have ordered them a psych eval.</p><p>He turned his thoughts back to the unknown Shiny, who shifted nervously in front of him.</p><p>“I’m Boss, Sir,” The kid said.</p><p>“Rex,” he introduced himself shortly, though he probably didn’t need to. Pretty much every Clone knew him by reputation; the only one who could keep up with Skywalker and Tano.</p><p>The kid fidgeted for a moment, then straightened his spine. Good. He had nerve.</p><p>Though Rex could wish the kid’s nerve had another place to show than his little sister’s sickroom. He looked down at Ahsoka, surprised to see her staring at Boss inquisitively. She raised an eyebrow, and Boss shrugged at her.</p><p>“You open for visitors?” The Shiny asked, more to Ahsoka than Rex. Rex was about to say no, go away, leave my sister alone, when he saw Ahsoka nod, minutely. He scowled, and signaled that he would only allow three.</p><p>Ahsoka frowned at him, but he remained resolute. Too much excitement wouldn’t help Ahsoka get better.</p><p>“Can you eat?” The Shiny asked again, and Ahsoka nodded, slower, and confused. Rex was even more confused.</p><p>The Shiny grinned, and put his helmet on once more to talk to the party or parties on the other end of the comm channel. Then he took the helmet off, and came to sit beside Ahsoka’s berth.</p><p>“We were worried about you, you know,” he said, “All anyone knew is that you were sick. We didn’t know if you would get better.”</p><p>Ahsoka smiled at him, though the smile was small.</p><p>“‘Course I’ll get bett’r,” she mumbled, and then winced.</p><p>“You don’t need to talk,” The Shiny reassured her, “We just missed you, is all.”</p><p>Ahsoka smiled again, and her eyes shifted to the door. A knock was heard on the wall, and two more Shinies poked their heads through the open doorframe.</p><p>“Brought you a treat,” one said, holding up a package; a portable cryo-cooler box.</p><p>“It just wasn’t the same eating without you,” said the other.</p><p>Boss carefully grabbed the box, reached in, and brought out a flimsi packet. He unwrapped it, and extracted a hunk of raw meat.</p><p>What?</p><p>Ahsoka’s eyes lit up, and she sat up a bit, grimacing as she did. Boss handed her the meat as soon as she reached for it, and she sank her teeth into it with a smile.</p><p>Rex stared blankly.</p><p>‘How you catch?’ Ahsoka signed, one handed, as she was still holding meat in the other.</p><p>“We’ve been practicing what you talked about,” Boss admitted, “Persistence hunting. The trabbits kind of fall over if you follow them at a jog for half an hour.”</p><p>Ahsoka smiled, large and bright, as she finished her meat. Trabbit meat? Rex shook his head.</p><p>This was one trouble he’d never needed to worry about the Shinies getting into when they were in space.</p><p>“Alright,” he sighed, “How did you know Ahsoka?”</p><p>“She’s been teaching us to hunt,” said one of the Shinies. Rex rubbed his temples.</p><p>“She used to get by just fine pouncing on troopers,” he said. The Shinies looked st each other awkwardly.</p><p>Ahsoka saved them explanation.</p><p>‘Not command animal-thoughts,’ she signed.</p><p>“She said she was having trouble keeping her instincts in check. That’s how we met, actually, she killed a trabbit by accident when we were out for a run, and gave us the meat,” The Shiny said.</p><p>Well. He was glad Ahsoka had stopped hunting the men then.</p><p>“And this has been going on for a while?” He asked resignedly.</p><p>The Shiny nodded.</p><p>“Six months, give or take,” he said.</p><p>Rex sighed. Apparently Ahsoka has reached the stage in her growing up that she didn’t tell him things.</p><p>“How many of you are there?” He asked idly. Boss smiled back at him.</p><p>“Our entire squad, sir,” he said proudly, “We’re getting better and better at keeping up with her every day.”</p><p>Ahsoka had fallen asleep, he noticed, listening to Boss’s words with one ear. Then the words registered.</p><p>‘Keep up with her,’ the Shiny had said. Like she was someone worth working for, she was, and like she was difficult to follow, she was.</p><p>He turned a considering gaze to the Shiny. Ahsoka would be knighted soon, in the next couple of years.</p><p>The other Shinies had started to make small talk leaned up against the berth. He eyed them too, noting that they were watching the open door and checking on Ahsoka periodically.</p><p>There was potential here. Ahsoka, entirely by accident it looked like, had started curating a legion.</p><p>His little sister was growing up.</p><p>He was so proud.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love comments/reviews/favorite moments! Thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Hunter and the Hunted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The rumors of Jango’s death have been greatly exaggerated.<br/>Whether or not he wishes he was dead, however...</p>
<p>Please read the warnings list on this one. It has a happy ending, but it’s darker than many of my other works.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Note: So versions of this plot have been bugging me for a while now. Jango is very persistent. The main problem I had is how to write it without getting too dark. </p>
<p>I will mention that despite my best efforts, this chapter is probably a higher T rating for violence and suicidal themes. Please be careful, read the warnings! </p>
<p>WARNINGS:<br/>Survival lifestyle,<br/>hunting, skinning and eating animals (<br/>violence (nongraphic),<br/>mentioned OC character death,<br/>Bad Guy OC character death in combat scenario,<br/>depictions of traditional Pacific Islander tattooing practices,<br/>culturally mandated suicidal ideation (I think that’s the best way to say it?),<br/>ritual outcast practices</p>
<p>If there’s something I missed in the warnings, I am very sorry. Please, if you are able, leave a comment so I can update the warnings. </p>
<p>The next few chapters will be fluff, promise.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jango hadn’t expected to wake up. The last thing he’d seen was the lightsaber swinging toward his neck, and he remembered hoping that the the cortosis weave he’d made his kute (1) of would hold up.</p>
<p>Oh. He’d made a miscalculation. Cortosis blocked lightsabers by momentarily overloading the power supply, and turning the force shield that focused the plasma off. A beam of uncontained plasma was much less harmful.</p>
<p>But he’d forgotten something. Plasma, when directed at a plate of Cortosis, sparked with electricity. He’d essentially tased himself in the neck.</p>
<p>Kark, he felt stupid.</p>
<p>He tried to take stock of his surroundings, and found himself in a tiny dark room without armor. What had happened to his armor?</p>
<p>What had happened to his son?!</p>
<p>The last thing he remembered was the battle. He’d left Boba in the upper booth with Tyrranus, and jetpacked down to the arena floor. Kenobi had reported him by now, and the Jedi probably were itching to finish what they started on Galidraan. He wouldn’t wait for one to jump up to the booth and put his son in danger.</p>
<p>He’d gotten at least one, he knew that. Then that dark-skinned man with the purple lightsaber had charged him, and he didn’t remember anything after that.</p>
<p>The neck strap on his helmet had been seared in two, it had flown off. But the rest of the armor had still been on.</p>
<p>He looked for a door, and found one at the corner. It was reinforced.</p>
<p>He was starting to have flashbacks to that karking spice freighter.</p>
<p>The door slid open, leading to the outdoors. He stepped out, the room was small enough to be called a coffin, to find himself in a jungle. The door slammed shut behind him, and a klaxon sounded. He started to hear baying, the noise of hunting animals. Jango was no fool. He ran.</p>
<p>He’d heard stories of Trandoshans, who bought quarry to be hunted for sport on their pleasure moons. He’d just never thought it would be him.</p>
<p>Less thinking. More running.</p>
<p>.</p>
<p>It had been four hundred and twenty-four local days since Jango had woken up, and subsequently escaped from his hunters. The Trandoshans were cowards, and if their prey went into the dangerous spots on their moon, they didn’t follow.</p>
<p>So Jango had run to some slot canyons; the Trandoshan’s speeders couldn’t fit in there. The narrows weren’t an easy place to live, they flooded with every rain and provided an excellent environment for all kinds of nasty creatures when not underwater.</p>
<p>It was still better than being killed for trophy.</p>
<p>He’d stopped thinking of Boba after three days. He needed to focus on escape, on getting out, and then he could think about his son. If he was distracted here, he would die, and Boba would be alone.</p>
<p>He’s alone already, a voice whispered. Shut up, he told it.</p>
<p>He had created a hide from a small natural arch, high up on the cliff wall, where he sheltered during the flood, and hid from carnivores. Luckily, most of the climbers didn’t leave the thick jungle for the sparse cover of the narrows. The ones that did, well, he’d managed.</p>
<p>Not without injury, but he was still alive.</p>
<p>And the teeth made good spears and knives, so there was that.</p>
<p>He’d been in his hide for a full local day, and he was starting to get hungry. He had no timekeeping equipment, but he thought that local days were slightly longer than standard ones. He couldn’t pinpoint how much, though.</p>
<p>He ignored the flicker of figures in the corner of his eyes. They weren’t really there. He’d started to see them after about a hundred ninety days, glimpses of people he loved. His parents, though their images had faded with time. His sister, also vague. Jaster. Myles. Boba. They stood in the corner of his vision, silent for now.</p>
<p>He carefully did not think about how they’d started talking, last time, after two years on that karking slave boat.</p>
<p>He decided to go hunting. Despite the frankly overwhelming variety of carnivores that roamed the moon, there were still some animals that were good to eat. And it wasn’t like he could grow a vegetable garden here.</p>
<p>He was stalking a creature that he thought looked promising when he heard the hunting klaxons sound. He immediately found a dense bush, dove into it, and froze. The Trandoshans had eyesight optimized for movement, but often missed people who stood still.</p>
<p>He caught a glimpse of the karker’s newest prey, two clones, running for their lives. They actually looked scared. Good actors. Attentive to detail. Everything the Kaminoans programmed them to be.</p>
<p>They couldn’t help the genetic Fett clumsiness, though, apparently, as they tripped on a root and fell into a deep river. They didn’t come up.</p>
<p>The hunting party passed them, their klaxons fading into the distance. Jango got out of the bush; it was quite unpleasant to be in, full of thorns, though less unpleasant than being chased.</p>
<p>He was almost startled when the clones surfaced in the river, not fifty feet from him. He froze again, and then remembered suddenly that humans and human droids could actually see him against the bright, eye-searing orange of the jungle foliage.</p>
<p>Both clones saw him near-immediately, staring at him with wide eyes. They started to run over to him, shouting.</p>
<p>“Ori’vod (2)!” One said, and plowed into him in a hug. The other quickly followed suit.</p>
<p>“What the kark?!” He growled, pulling away.</p>
<p>Both immediately backed away from him, holding their hands up in surrender.</p>
<p>“Sorry, ori’vod,” the leader of the two said, holding the other one’s wrist, “It’s been a while since we’ve seen another brother.”</p>
<p>“I’m not your brother,” Jango grunted at him.</p>
<p>Both clones blinked at him.</p>
<p>“Of course you are,” the leader said. The other one was looking at something behind him, moved suddenly to tackle him. The leader dodged nimbly as something large and full of teeth tore through the small clearing they were in.</p>
<p>“We have other problems,” the tackler grunted, still on top of Jango. Jango was resolutely ignoring how nice it was to have someone near him that didn’t want to kill him.</p>
<p>Well. Now he owed the things a lift debt. Kark.</p>
<p>Nothing for it. Out of everything that could be said about him, he paid his debts, even to droids.</p>
<p>And standing here, talking to them, the flickers in the corner of his vision were gone. That was worth putting up with almost anything.</p>
<p>“Come on,” he sighed, “Let’s get something to eat, and then we can get somewhere safer.”</p>
<p>.</p>
<p>It was easier to hunt with three. That’s that Jango focused on. He didn’t focus on how the leader tried his best to do what Jango told, and how the tackler mostly ignored him to focus on the jungle around him.</p>
<p>They acted like people.</p>
<p>He told himself that it was because they’d been out in the galaxy for a while, that they’d met more people to model themselves after. He told himself that it was because he hadn’t seen a person in a while.</p>
<p>He tried to believe it.</p>
<p>They ran down a decently-sized something after a while, with lots of teeth that it strangely enough didn’t use. He showed them how to field-strip it, and take as much meat as they could carry. Then he showed them which teeth would make good knives and spears and which were better to leave and not bother with.</p>
<p>He ignored how much attention was paid to him, much more than the polite observance of the clones at Kamino. He ignored how they smiled at being given teeth to make knives with.</p>
<p>They were just trying to get him to like them, after all.</p>
<p>He ignored the little voice in his head, the one that said things he didn’t want to hear. It was currently telling him that the clones didn’t have any reason to use their natborn appeasement protocols. They thought he was another clone, and clones were programmed first and foremost to work together.</p>
<p>They’d just gotten a few wires crossed, is all. Who knew what the Trandoshans did to them before they let them loose.</p>
<p>“How’d you get here?” He asked idly, once they reached the Narrows. It was safe enough to talk here, the constant streams and gravel river beds made moving quietly almost impossible, so it was harder to be snuck up on.</p>
<p>“The Sepratists sell POWs to Trandoshans to hunt,” the leader said, “Didn’t you know that?”</p>
<p>Sounds like something Tyrranus would do. The man had no compunctions buying human-looking computers, why would he balk at selling them?</p>
<p>Jango shrugged.</p>
<p>“Only thing I knew was that I woke up here one day without my armor,” he muttered, “Didn’t know how or why.”</p>
<p>He ignored the programmed sympathy in their eyes. He hated pity from actual people, from droids it was even worse.</p>
<p>“What’s your name?” The leader asked him, suddenly, “I’m Brick, and that’s Jump.”</p>
<p>He grunted. They were droids, they didn’t need names. Furthermore, they didn’t need his name.</p>
<p>He showed them the handholds and footholds he used to climb to his hide, near-invisible unless you were looking for them. They followed him up, curiously. Their eyes widened when they saw his calendar; the tally marks he’d been keeping of days here.</p>
<p>“You’ve been here a while,” the leader said nervously. He grunted again.</p>
<p>They ate in silence. Jango wasn’t complaining. He wasn’t in the mood for talking.</p>
<p>He took first watch, and pointed out the small cranny he slept in that kept most of the wind out. The moon was tropical, luckily, but it still got a little cold at night, and he hadn’t had the time to tan any of the skins of animals he’d hunted.</p>
<p>He watched them curl together in the crevice, more like little boys than robots. Their modified metabolisms must make them feel like they’re cold.</p>
<p>He watched as the sun went down, and the planet below as well as another moon reflected light back at them. It was quiet.</p>
<p>He heard the crunching of footsteps a couple times on the streambeds below, but nothing tried to climb. Even he couldn’t climb the rock face without making noise, no chance an animal could.</p>
<p>.</p>
<p>He heard whimpers. He thought there was an animal below at first, one hurt and in pain. He looked down, by the light of the planet and the other moon, but the ground below was clear. He listened again, trying to pinpoint the direction of the sound.</p>
<p>It was in the hide.</p>
<p>He spun around, expecting to be attacked, only to see... nothing. Nothing except for one of the clones moving.</p>
<p>It was whimpering. It wasn’t awake, Jango saw as he moved closer, but it was crying.</p>
<p>Why was it crying? Droids didn’t cry.</p>
<p>There were words, in the whimpers. Serge. Trite. Pokey.</p>
<p>Names?</p>
<p>The other clone stirred. Neither noticed Jango. He’d have to take watch all night then, if they didn’t notice him they wouldn’t notice a monster.</p>
<p>Well. Nothing he wasn’t used to before.</p>
<p>“Shh,” the awake clone said to his sleeping comrade, “It’ll be alright.”</p>
<p>He was stroking the sleeping one’s hair, Jango saw. It clearly wasn’t awake, but it leaned into the touch anyway. The Clones weren’t people. Why was it reacting like one?</p>
<p>“They’re marching ahead,” the clone’s voice broke, “They’re not hurting anymore, they’re watching over us. And we’ll see them again, someday.”</p>
<p>Clones didn’t have feelings, Jango told himself. He watched the clone comfort its- his brother, and something in him snapped. Maybe it had been breaking for a long time.</p>
<p>They were people. They were people. They weren’t droids.</p>
<p>Kark. They were people.</p>
<p>It took everything in him to be quiet, as he realized what he’d done.</p>
<p>He’d tortured children. Manda, he was the worst kind of demagolka (3).</p>
<p>He wrapped his arms around himself and did not scream. Screaming would just draw attention to their location.</p>
<p>His hand found his knife, and he contemplated just using it on himself quickly. But his eyes found the Clones again, curled up with each other and steadily sinking back into sleep.</p>
<p>They’d never survive alone.</p>
<p>He could never make up for what he did to them, to all of them, but he owed it to them to try. He’d keep them alive until they got off this karking moon, and then he would tell them who he was and let them put a blaster bolt between his eyes. Or something slower, if they wanted.</p>
<p>He gently took all his knives off and put them in the corner, dar’manda (4) forfeit their weapons and armor, by the two... boys. Kark, they couldn’t have been more then ten. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath.</p>
<p>He couldn’t focus on that now. He needed to keep them alive. That was all that mattered.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Jump woke up with the sun, blinking his eyes against the brightness. He’d thought he would be woken up long before this.</p>
<p>He elbowed Brick in the side, waking him up as well. Where was their older brother?</p>
<p>There was a pile of knives near them, ones made of teeth and claws. The ones the older Clone carried.</p>
<p>Where was he? When a Clone left his weapons behind...</p>
<p>He elbowed Brick again, harder. His brother grunted, and sat up.</p>
<p>“Ori’vod?” He called. He looked around the hide a little more, to see the older man sitting on the edge of the ledge, feet dangling over.</p>
<p>It was a good twenty-meter drop to the riverbed below. If you fell wrong, or just didn’t take pains to fall right...</p>
<p>“Ori’vod,” He said carefully, “Please come back toward us?”</p>
<p>The older man looked back at them. Were his eyes that dull last night? Nevertheless, he stood and began walking toward him.</p>
<p>“Do you want to talk about it?” Brick asked hesitantly. The older Clone, they really should get something to call him, shook his head.</p>
<p>They sat down across from him, and he sat down as well. It was quiet for a while.</p>
<p>“...They told me you weren’t people,” the older Clone said finally.</p>
<p>“We are, though, just like you,” Jump pointed out. Some of the older Clones seemed o believe they weren’t people, maybe this was the same.</p>
<p>“I know. They told me you were different from me,” the man across from them said.</p>
<p>Jump eyeballed the man. He was a couple centimeters shorter than them, and he looked older. About the Nulls’ age, really.</p>
<p>“You were a prototype,” he said, certain. It fit with the things the other man was saying and the things he wasn’t.</p>
<p>The prototype shrugged.</p>
<p>“Something like that, if you want,” he said.</p>
<p>“You have a name?” Brick said cautiously.</p>
<p>“I don’t deserve one,” the older Clone said.</p>
<p>Jump blinked. Everyone deserved a name. Brick twitched next to him.</p>
<p>“‘Course you do,” his brother insisted. The older Clone shook his head.</p>
<p>“I’m demagolka, dar’manda,” he explained, with a catch in his voice, “I forfeited my name when I forfeited my soul.”</p>
<p>“No you’re not!” Jump insisted.</p>
<p>“You don’t know what I’ve done,” the prototype’s voice was low and dangerous.</p>
<p>They weren’t going anywhere with this conversation, Jump knew. So he sighed, and watched the prototype stare back at them with a blank gaze.</p>
<p>The prototype could hide his emotions very well.</p>
<p>“I’ll call you Proto,” Brick decided next to him. The newly-named Proto opened his mouth to object.</p>
<p>“It’s too long to say Prototype all the time,” Brick countered before the older man opened his mouth, “And we need to call you something. ‘Hey you’ doesn’t cut it on the battlefield.”</p>
<p>Proto acquiesced with bad grace, and got up.</p>
<p>“We have enough meat for another day,” he said, “But we’ll need to find something new after that, and I need to teach you a lot before then.”</p>
<p>They got up and followed him.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Proto was a decent teacher, Brick learned. He was patient, and while he was not kind, he was honest. He taught them what kinds of strikes worked best on different kinds of animals, how to hold the crude knives they’d made of teeth and claws for best impact.</p>
<p>The next day, they went hunting again, and Proto taught them how to stalk prey, how to track and make yourself hidden in the forest. How to listen for the Trandoshan hunting parties, and what to do when you hear one.</p>
<p>They took down something large and toothy again, and Proto taught them how to skin it, what parts were meat, and what were no good.</p>
<p>“Keep the brains and the liver,” he said, “Normally we could eat those, but we need to use them to tan the hide right now.”</p>
<p>Brick asked him why. Proto cast a discerning eye toward their blacks, which were already starting to shred in the thorny jungle.</p>
<p>“We’re living in the rough,” he said dryly, “But I doubt you want to run around naked.”</p>
<p>Brick blushed.</p>
<p>They carried the meat back to the hide, and set it up to dry in the tropical sun.</p>
<p>“Can’t afford a fire,” Proto grunted, “But it’ll get it safe to eat.”</p>
<p>There was something wrong with Proto, they found after a couple of days. He only took for himself what he absolutely needed. He ate enough to sustain himself, and gave the rest to them. He divided up the warm furs they were starting to tan, and gave all of the hide to them.</p>
<p>He wouldn’t let them out if his sight. He worried about them, to the point of making risky mistakes if he thought they were in danger.</p>
<p>None of these were good signs. Add them to Proto’s refusal of a real name, and his insistence that he was demagolka, and it painted a very ugly picture.</p>
<p>Jump and Brick murmured together at night, when Proto was sitting on the ledge again. He’d promised not to jump, and they believed him, begrudgingly. It was the furthest he ever got from them; it was the best opportunity they had to talk about things he’d prefer they pretended didn’t exist.</p>
<p>“He’s not going to make it if he continues on like this,” Brick murmured. Jump nudged further into his brother’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“Is there anything we can do, you think?” He asked. They looked at Proto, sitting in the reflected light of the planet in the sky above them. He looked lonely, shoulders hunched like he had the weight of the world on them.</p>
<p>“He won’t let us take watch,” Brick murmured back.</p>
<p>“We’ll just have to insist, then. Appeal to his protective nature. He can’t keep us out of trouble if he isn’t well rested, can he?,” Jump said with a smart-aleck grin. He got up, walked over to Proto, and tapped his shoulder. After a short conversation, Proto got up and let Jump have his spot.</p>
<p>Jump settled in, with the spear they used in case something started climbing the walls. Proto walked back to the wall, and laid down about three meters from Brick. He was more in the open, and obviously felt the cool breeze. He wrapped his arms around himself and prepared to sleep.</p>
<p>Brick sighed. Looked like it was his turn to herd the stubborn older brother.</p>
<p>“Proto, I’m cold,” he said, only fudging the truth a little bit. He wasn’t cold yet, not with Jump’s lingering warmth, but he would be soon. His idiot older brother just looked at him, and then started undoing his own blacks.</p>
<p>“No!” He said sharply, startling both Proto and Jump. Jump quickly returned to keeping watch, but Proto just looked at him uncomprehendingly.</p>
<p>Brick sighed, and left the nook, and walked over to Proto. The older man was still looking at him blankly.</p>
<p>“Come on,” Brick said, and grabbed Proto’s wrist. The older man didn’t resist until he was dragged nearly all the way to the sleeping nook, and then he began to stiffen.</p>
<p>“No,” he said, “You don’t want me near you, especially not when you’re sleeping.”</p>
<p>He tried to jerk his arm back, but Brick was more determined than that.</p>
<p>“What’re you going to do?” He teased, “Hog the blanket?”</p>
<p>There was no blanket, so Brick wasn’t too worried. Proto just looked at him, helplessly.</p>
<p>“It’s cold out, Proto,” Brick said, “Didn’t you every pile up with your Vode (5) when it was cold?”</p>
<p>“All my Vode are dead,” Proto said, absently. Brick froze, and saw Jump jerk on his sentry post.</p>
<p>“Well, you’ve got us,” Brick said, “And I’m cold. It’s your responsibility as older brother to pile up with me and warm us both up.”</p>
<p>He’d made that last part up, of course, but it seemed to convince Proto. He hesitantly curled up with Brick, freezing as Brick put his arm over his side, but finally settling once Brick stopped moving.</p>
<p>“Sleep tight,” Brick joked. Proto said nothing, but didn’t move away either.</p>
<p>That was the last Brick knew until Jump woke him up for watch.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>They passed the days and nights fairly similarly, in Jump’s opinion. The skins finally grew tanned enough to use, which was good, because Brick and Jump were practically running around in their underthings by that point. For some reason, Proto’s blacks seemed more hard-wearing, and weren’t nearly as fragmented.</p>
<p>“They’re for ops,” he grunted when they asked him.</p>
<p>Ops guys got all the good gear, Jump pouted.</p>
<p>But, well, the furs were kind of cool. Even if they smelled. Then again, Jump and his brothers smelled too, so he couldn’t hold that against them. And they were soft, or some of them were anyway.</p>
<p>Proto chose specific animals to skin for their clothes; he’d take some with bright red spotted fur, but nothing with solid black.</p>
<p>“Most of the animals here are predators, including the Trandoshans,” he said, “The few omnivores that I’ve seen are mainly grass-eaters. Color vision is an adaptation associated with fruit eaters, mostly, so they can’t see you standing out the way a human could. Most of their vision is movement-based. But solid colors do stand out, better to have a pattern to break up your outline.”</p>
<p>Jump and Brick looked at Proto’s black bodysuit and then at each other. The next hunt, they took down something bright orange and grey spotted. They skinned that, to Proto’s confusion, and tanned it in the hide. The second the hide was useable, they near-wrestled it onto Proto.</p>
<p>He tried to object. Tried, of course, being the operative word. After some words about being able to surprise any attackers and stay unseen to help them hunt, he gave in.</p>
<p>Jump and Brick were getting good at this.</p>
<p>After about thirty local days, Jump sat down with Proto and Brick. Jump had been their squad leader, back when there was more squad than just him and Brick, so he’d been given extra tactical training.</p>
<p>“Think we could take down a Trandoshan speeder?” He said bluntly.</p>
<p>Proto jerked.</p>
<p>“No!” He said by reflex. It was the same kind of ‘no’ that he’d give them if they tried to swim in one of the more lethal streams, or climb a poisonous tree, or poke something toothy with a stick.</p>
<p>They should probably stop doing that. It gave Proto a heart attack every time</p>
<p>“Really, Proto, think. Transhoshans hunt in groups, but if we can separate one off...” Jump led.</p>
<p>“They’re not that much faster than the weird orange land-squid,” Brick said thoughtfully.</p>
<p>When they got off this rock, Jump was getting a copy of a zoology book so he knows what all the things trying to eat them are called.</p>
<p>“They’re better armed than the land-squid,” Proto countered.</p>
<p>Good point. Land-squid did not have blasters.</p>
<p>“So we take them by surprise,” Jump offered, “Knock them off the speeder with a rock.”</p>
<p>“A sharp rock,” Brick said thoughtfully, holding up some extra teeth and claws.</p>
<p>Proto looked at them like they were insane, but sighed.</p>
<p>“And the point of this would be?” He asked resignedly.</p>
<p>“Getting a speeder of our very own!” Jump said, “So we can go farther, and carry more.”</p>
<p>“And maybe getting blasters too. So we don’t have to be next to something to kill it,” Brick pointed out.</p>
<p>Proto looked at him and sighed.</p>
<p>“I’m not talking you out of this, am I,” He said, resigned.</p>
<p>“Nope!” Jump smiled at him. Proto sighed again.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Despite Proto’s loud grumblings of trepidation, the actual capture of the speeder proved pretty easy, or so Brick thought at first. They made a rope from one of the animal hides, and waited in a spot where they knew hunting parties often went.</p>
<p>They picked the last hunter in a small party, one who had gotten behind his comrades. They stretched the rope out at head height at the right second, and the hunter fell off pretty easily.</p>
<p>The tricky part was catching the speeder. Or, well, they thought it would be tricky.</p>
<p>It turned out there was a kill sensor on the speeder: it stopped when it didn’t detect the weight of the rider.</p>
<p>The unfortunate thing was that it also sent a distress signal to the rest of the party. They heard the rest of the speeders humming back toward them as they were going through the supplies.</p>
<p>“Kark!” Yelled Proto, who shoved Jump and Brick to the ground and picked up the blaster rifle from the speeder in one fluid motion.</p>
<p>Brick and Jump watched in amazement as he knelt and began shooting. After he’d picked off two of the other hunters, he got up.</p>
<p>“Stay down! Freeze!” He yelled at them, when they began to follow.</p>
<p>He took two steps away from them, and fired again, then another two steps, and fired yet again.</p>
<p>He was moving away from them. Their amazement turned to horror when they realized his plan. </p>
<p>The remaining hunters reached them, seven heavily armed Trandoshans.</p>
<p>“Freeze, Clone!” One snarled.</p>
<p>“To a pathetic aruetii (6) like you? Never!” Snarled Proto in return. He prowled toward the Trandoshan.</p>
<p>“What kind of a man needs to take all of his enemy’s weapons before hunting him down like a dog?” Proto taunted, “If you were any kind of warrior, you’d fight me to my face when I’m armed!”</p>
<p>The Trandoshan lunged forward, forgetting his blaster. Evidently that was Proto’s aim, as he quickly dispatched the hunter with a blow to the head.</p>
<p>He continued snarling invectives at the remaining hunters, though none of them took the bait.</p>
<p>He switched to Mando’a suddenly, still cursing. However, Brick startled as his words suddenly changed, though his tone didn’t.</p>
<p>“Get the speeder and run!” He spat, like a particularly vile insult, “Get to the hide, forget me!”</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Proto wanted to them to leave him behind. He wanted to be left to die.</p>
<p>Jump was just as horrified next to him.</p>
<p>The Trandoshans got the bright idea to rush Proto all at once, instead of one at a time. Proto managed to down one more with the bayonet on the rifle before the others were on him.</p>
<p>“Run!” Proto repeated in Mando’a, making it sound like a war cry. He doubled over as one of the Trandoshans got in a lucky shot with his claws.</p>
<p>Like haran (7) were they going to leave their older brother like this.</p>
<p>Brick got up fluidly, and grabbed a tooth-knife from his waist. Jump mirrored him. Proto had the only blaster they could find, so they’d have to make do.</p>
<p>BEGIN VIOLENCE TRIGGER WARNING</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They leapt forward, each tackling a Trandoshan from behind and running their knives across scaly throats. Proto took the opportunity to stab another Trandoshan, but that still left four.</p>
<p>Jump got another Trandoshan in the gut, and saw Brick out of the corner of his eyes take down a second one as well. Proto lifted the rifle again, using the bayonet on the other two.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>END VIOLENCE TRIGGER WARNING</p>
<p>It was unnaturally quiet in the clearing when they were done.</p>
<p>“We need to stage an animal attack,” Proto said.</p>
<p>“Leave them here, something will eat them,” Jump replied. Proto nodded, but seemed angry for some reason. They went through the speeders, and took anything useful; food, weapons, first aid supplies. Then they vacated the area, on two speeders; there was already ominous rustling in the bushes.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Jump enjoyed the speeder ride, though Proto gestured for them to stop well before they reached the slot canyons.</p>
<p>“We need to check for trackers,” he said, factually, but there was still that simmering anger behind his eyes. He taught them how to go over the vehicles, taking out trackers, and Brick, who had been a mechanic, helped in removing some less essential parts.</p>
<p>“If you take this fin off,” he explained, “It’s less stable on turns, but will also turn tighter. Remove that cover, and the speeder will go higher.”</p>
<p>Jump went and found two large inedible fruits, and went to the piles of trackers. He cut a small hole in each fruit, carefully stuck the trackers inside, making sure they were lodged firmly in the gooey flesh of the fruit and that each speeder’s trackers went in the same fruit, and sealed the hole with a piece of bark and some resin. Then he walked to the river they had stopped by, and tossed them in. He watched them bob downstream with a vague expression of satisfaction.</p>
<p>After stripping the speeders beyond what their warranties would ever cover, they took off again to their hide.</p>
<p>It was a bit dicey getting the speeders through the narrows, but it was doable, especially due to the modifications they’d made. The hard part was getting them up to the hide.</p>
<p>They ended up tying the rope they’d used to down the first one around it, and the other end around Jump’s waist. The speeder wasn’t that heavy, so he could pull it up the wall, with assistance from its antigrav. He tossed the rope back down for Brick to do the same.</p>
<p>Proto stood watch with thunderclouds spreading over this face.</p>
<p>Once they’d secured the speeders in a corner of their hide, Proto grabbed them by the wrist and dragged them in front of him.</p>
<p>“What the kark were you thinking?” He yelled, shaking their wrists where he still had an iron grip, “When I tell you to run, run!”</p>
<p>Jump and Brick just looked at him. Proto got angrier.</p>
<p>“What were you thinking?” He yelled again.</p>
<p>“We aren’t going to leave you behind,” Jump said flatly.</p>
<p>“You will leave me behind when I kriffing tell you to!” Proto yelled back.</p>
<p>“No!” Brick decided to yell in return.</p>
<p>Proto was taken aback. They’d never yelled at him before.</p>
<p>Brick decided to press his advantage; he stepped forward and poked Proto in the chest.</p>
<p>“We don’t leave men behind. We don’t leave you behind!” He exclaimed.</p>
<p>“You will if it saves your lives!” Proto yelled back, “You won’t risk yourself for me any more, understand?”</p>
<p>“We will if it’s necessary!” Jump yelled back.</p>
<p>“You will not!” Proto screamed.</p>
<p>The loud noise startled them all, and they took a second to listen for any animals nearby. When they heard nothing, Proto continued at a whisper.</p>
<p>“You will not,” he insisted, “I’m not worth even one of you, let alone two. I should be dead four times over, and if my time comes, I deserve it more than you know. Don’t risk yourselves for me again.”</p>
<p>“We can’t lose you, no matter what you’ve done!“ Jump insisted.</p>
<p>“You’re strong, and clever, and you listen to what I’ve taught you, you’ll survive, even if I don’t,” Proto dismissed.</p>
<p>“We can’t lose anyone else!” Jump carefully did not yell, “We lost our squad, our officer, our General was missing and then we were taken away from the Commander and the Legion. You’re all we have left!”</p>
<p>Proto’s eyes widened, in genuine surprise. Did it not occur to him that they would care?</p>
<p>“You shouldn’t care for me,” he said tiredly, “I’m demagolka. I told you.”</p>
<p>“What in the galaxy could you have done that was so terrible?” Jump said exasperatedly.</p>
<p>Proto gave him a flat look.</p>
<p>“Who do you think designed the training regime?” He asked.</p>
<p>Jump went still. The training regime he and his squad were out through was nightmarish, but it was rumored to be worse for the CCs. No one knew about the Alphas’.</p>
<p>“That was you?” Brick said, aghast. Proto nodded, shortly.</p>
<p>Jump tilted his head at the older man.</p>
<p>“You didn’t know we were people, did you?” He asked, low and gentle.</p>
<p>“That does not excuse it,” Proto hissed, every word sharp.</p>
<p>“Perhaps. But it gives us basis to forgive you,” Jump replied gently.</p>
<p>Proto shook his head one more time.</p>
<p>“Don’t forgive me until after we’ve gotten off this rock,” he said, “I’ll tell you more then.”</p>
<p>“Fine,” Brick said, cutting in, “But you have to be here to get off with us, okay? So you can tell us then.”</p>
<p>Proto nodded, reluctantly, but shook their hands to seal the deal. He seemed surprised when they hugged him after.</p>
<p>He always did. They’d need to work on that.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Brick couldn’t say he liked living on this Force-forsaken moon. But, well, it was tolerable. He didn’t have to watch his brothers die every tenday.</p>
<p>And the sunrise was nice.</p>
<p>They’d fallen into a routine of sorts, hunting every day or two. The speeders gave them greater range, so they could hunt over a wider spread and develop a more random pattern. They avoided the hunting parties, and presumably the toothy creatures that they hunted, but there were some exceptions.</p>
<p>They were harvesting some of the few fruits they could eat one day when they heard the whine of speeders. Oddly enough, they hadn’t heard the horns that signaled a hunting party.</p>
<p>They figured out why when a Clone wandered into the clearing with them. Proto swept their speeders into a thicket, and Jump and Brick pulled their brother into a bush with them, and they froze until the Trandoshans passed by.</p>
<p>“What the kriff?” Muttered the unknown vod.</p>
<p>“Welcome to our world,” muttered Brick, pulling himself up. He held out a hand to his new brother, who took it warily.</p>
<p>“I’m Brick, this is Jump,” he introduced them, “And the grump over there is Proto.”</p>
<p>“CT-3729,” The vod held out his hand to shake.</p>
<p>Proto flinched in the corner of their eyes.</p>
<p>“Can we call you something?” Jump asked, quietly. Some Vode were uncomfortable giving their names at first, due to being punished for them at Kamino.</p>
<p>“I was thinking of going by Redsun,” the brother said just as quietly, “But I never got to tell anyone.”</p>
<p>“There’s no one else?” Brick checked, and the other vod shook his head.</p>
<p>“I was alone,” he explained.</p>
<p>“Not anymore,” Jump reassured, “We’ll help you.”</p>
<p>Proto brought the speeders over, not looking Redsun in the eye. They rode to the hide in silence, and Proto gave them space as Jump and Brick kitted their brother out in furs, though he was obviously listening.</p>
<p>“What legion are you?” Redsun asked quietly.</p>
<p>“594th,” Brick returned, “General Im’Elda, Commander Yuniko, Commander Trig.”</p>
<p>“The 594th was dissolved five months ago!” Redsun said.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we were captured just after the General died,” Jump told him.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Redsun said, holding out his hand in sympathy. They took it, for a second, and let go.</p>
<p>“Which are you?” Brick asked, after a moment. He mostly wanted to break the silence.</p>
<p>“637th, General Portin, Commander Vix, Commander Satnav.”</p>
<p>“Your Jedi still alive?” Jump said tentatively. Redsun smiled back.</p>
<p>“As far as I know, she’s on her ship with the kid and they’re safe in hyperspace,” he sighed.</p>
<p>“Kid?” Proto asked, “Why are you happy that a Jedi has a kid with them? They’re emotionless, they don’t know how to raise kids.”</p>
<p>“Padawan-Commander Returci Vix is thirteen years old,” Redsun said, “And is the Legion’s mascot. We’re close to giving him some armor. You never served under a Jedi?”</p>
<p>“Proto’s Ops, got captured early on,” Brick explained, jerking his head to the numerous tally marks. Redsun’s eyes widened.</p>
<p>“Why would you give a jetii (8) armor? They’d never appreciate it, they’d never love you back,” Proto snarled.</p>
<p>“Because ‘Turci likes to draw pictures of the troopers,” Redsun said slowly, “And he’ll talk to you for hours, if need be, because he doesn’t draw what you look like, he tries to draw who you are. He drew me once, and it was the first time someone who wasn’t my brother looked me in the eyes for more than five minutes. He has a talent for seeing into people’s souls, and somehow he is still good-hearted enough to love everyone in the Legion like we’re his family.”</p>
<p>“Padawan-Commander Temna Yuniko likes to do her homework in the trooper’s mess,” Brick continued softly, “And she’ll talk about it to everyone who expresses and interest. She’ll ask for help, or she’ll explain a concept to you if you don’t know it.”</p>
<p>Proto looked at them like they’d grown second heads, and shook his head and turned away.</p>
<p>“Jedi talk nice, but it’s all empty. They’ll bring promises of peace, and cut you down without so much as changing their facial expression,” He spat.</p>
<p>“My General, the Jedi Master,” said Brick, “Once stood watch for a full thirty-six hours over Commander Trig, when he’d been injured. When we found them, the General insisted we treat Trig first. It was only after we took them to the medics that we found out the General had a broken arm.”</p>
<p>“Commander Satnav says that the General is the best, that she saved his life countless times,” Redsun offered.</p>
<p>Proto just looked at them and shook his head.</p>
<p>“They killed my all of my Vode,” he said bitterly, “On the word of some coward governor who had been paid to wipe us out.”</p>
<p>“Then they were tricked,” Brick said, “I wish I could bring you to the General; you could talk together, you’d see then.”</p>
<p>“If wishes were starships, we’d be long gone from this hunk of rock,” Jump said.</p>
<p>Proto turned away, anger in his eyes, but he didn’t leave the hide.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Redsun didn’t know what to think of the strange little squad they’d stumbled into. Jump and Brick were nice; he told them news of the war, and they told him stories of their campaigns.</p>
<p>Proto sat at the edge of the hide and watched the rain that had started a while before. Redsun sat next to him after a while, jumped as a roaring sound filled the hide, and peered down at the suddenly flooded slot canyon below.</p>
<p>“How often does it do that?” He asked nervously.</p>
<p>“Daily,” came the answer, “And there’s enough rocks and branches in that water, it’s not the drowning that’ll kill you.”</p>
<p>Redsun gulped.</p>
<p>“It’s about the same time every day,” the stranger offered, in a conciliatory way, “And never starts less than maybe fifteen minutes after it starts raining. So you have time to escape, see?”</p>
<p>Proto seemed sorry to have scared him, even accidentally, so he started pointing out the catchment basins they’d set up for water, and how the rain filled them every day.</p>
<p>“Without the rain,” Proto smiled wryly, “We’d never get baths.”</p>
<p>They walked for a little while longer, before settling in for some sleep. The roaring of the canyons was growing fainter, but was still present.</p>
<p>It wasn’t worse than cannon fire, Redsun thought.</p>
<p>Jump took first watch, and Brick showed Redsun the crevice where they slept. Proto made to curl up in the middle of the hide, but Brick grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the crevice with them.</p>
<p>“Proto, here, designed the training program under the impression we were droids. He’s convinced we should hate him,” Brick said in a conversational tone.</p>
<p>“You should. I did more than that,” Proto growled.</p>
<p>Redsun was still a bit scared of Proto, but the older man seemed to be just as scared of them right now. He didn’t know what to think of Proto making the training. It was just too much for one day, after waking up and meeting this odd little tribe and telling his name to someone and the flash flood...</p>
<p>“However, he’s a great heater,” Brick continued brightly, “So you won’t sleep in the open, will you?” He asked Proto significantly.</p>
<p>“You have someone else to help conserve heat,” Proto pointed out, trying to wrestle his hand free.</p>
<p>“Two is better than one, so it must follow that three is better than two!” Brick said, “You wouldn’t want us to get cold, and get sick, now would you?”</p>
<p>Proto looked at Brick flatly, but stopped resisting.</p>
<p>It was odd curling up with someone who wasn’t your squadmate, Redsun thought. He kept expecting to get Blue-gold’s elbow in his side, but instead he got a knee from Brick.</p>
<p>He ignored the pang that told him that he’d probably never feel Blue-gold’s elbow in his side again.</p>
<p>They eventually settled in a pile, fairly comfortable, and drifted off to sleep. The last thing Redsun registered was Proto’s eyes in him, gaze full of guilt.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Jump didn’t keep track of the days, not like Proto did, but he could tell it had been a while. They stole more speeders, hunted, looked at the stars. There were more additions; after Redsun came Mince, Destrier, and Loco.</p>
<p>The hide was getting small.</p>
<p>Proto insisted he wasn’t their leader. They agreed with him, and then asked for advice and did what he said anyway. He turned an odd shade of white once he realized, but he stopped objecting.</p>
<p>After they’d taken their seventh speeder, Proto cast an appraising eye over their supplies and nodded. Speeder five had come with a small solar-powered stove, one that could boil a liter of water within five minutes. They also had several small bottles of stericohol, and enough bacta bandages for a small army. They hadn’t had a cut get infected in tendays.</p>
<p>“If we were on Mandalore,” he said, “You all would have earned badges of honor and bravery by now; Jaig Eyes for Jump, Ears of The Wind for Brick, Rancor’s Teeth for Redsun and Destrier, Fire Claws for Loco, and the River’s Path for Mince.”</p>
<p>Jump looked at him and blinked. He was worthy of Jaig Eyes?</p>
<p>Proto continued, quietly.</p>
<p>“I can’t give you those. We have no armor. But there is something I can give you, if you want. It’ll hurt,” he murmured.</p>
<p>Of course, that only heightened their curiosity more.</p>
<p>“What do you mean, Proto?” Asked Mince. Proto ran his hand through his hair nervously, and picked up two odd tools that he had been working on all morning.</p>
<p>One was made from a creature they had encountered, with flat, serrated teeth; the serrations stuck out like needles. The tooth was fixed at right angles to a wooden handle with some twine. The other was a small wooden mallet.</p>
<p>“When I was young, one of my trainers showed me an old art; traditional tattoo,” he murmured, “The Mandalorian way, not what you’re likely familiar with.”</p>
<p>Jump’s eyes widened. Mandalorians had tattoos?</p>
<p>“It will hurt, more than a needle tattoo,” Proto said, “And I can’t do curved lines, so I’m limited to geometric shapes. But it used to be tradition, for Mandalorian warriors.”</p>
<p>“Did you ever have one?” Asked Redsun, wide-eyed.</p>
<p>Proto shook his head, sadly.</p>
<p>“My teacher died before I could, but he taught me how,” he said.</p>
<p>Jump and Brick looked at each other. They were starting to suspect that Proto wasn’t actually a prototype, but he’d never stopped protecting them since they’d arrived.</p>
<p>They wondered, in private, how much of what Proto said to them was true about being told they weren’t people.</p>
<p>“What was his name?” Asked Destrier.</p>
<p>“Myles, with a Y, the Y was very important,” Proto smiled sadly. They nodded. Spelling was very important to some brothers.</p>
<p>“I’d like to try,” Jump said, “The tattoo, I mean.” Brick nodded as well.</p>
<p>If Proto was offering it, it meant he was as sure as he could be that it wasn’t dangerous. He hated it when any of them were in danger.</p>
<p>And it seemed important, to Jump, the way that Proto held the tools. This was something their older brother genuinely wanted to share, wanted to give them.</p>
<p>Even if he wasn’t actually their older brother, as he and Brick suspected.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>The tattoo was indeed painful, Brick discovered, as he sat and felt Proto tap into his arm. But it was something of Mandalore, and he as well as many of the other Clones wanted that desperately.</p>
<p>“It’s fallen out of fashion,” Proto grunted when they asked him about it, “Too uncivilized for the New Mandalorians.”</p>
<p>He said New Mandalorians like a slur. Perhaps it was.</p>
<p>The procedure itself was simple; Proto had created ink by burning a resinous plant they knew wasn’t poisonous, and then mixing the soot with boiled water. He’d boiled the mallet and rake before starting, and dipped the rake in a bowl of stericol periodically.</p>
<p>The method of the tattoo was also simple; Proto dipped the rake in the ink, and then drove the needles into skin by tapping on it with the mallet. He’d given them a design of overlapping diamonds around their forearms.</p>
<p>“It’s for teamwork,” he explained, “And family.”</p>
<p>Proto only did one tattoo a day, due to how time-intensive it was. But, eventually, they all had the band on their arm, still tender but healed with bacta. Unlike the tattoos Brick had seen other brothers with, these created slight grooves in the skin, like a scar.</p>
<p>“What about you, Proto?” Asked Destrier. Despite his name, Destrier had a very gentle and inclusive personality.</p>
<p>Proto shook his head.</p>
<p>“I’m dar’manda,” he said, “I don’t deserve it.”</p>
<p>Destrier was always distressed when Proto had told them that. Proto had always been open with the younger ones about how he perceived himself, though he never said anything more than he had first told Brick and Jump. He promised them he would tell them everything once they were off the planet.</p>
<p>Something about distracting them from hunting and survival.</p>
<p>But, well, if what Brick and Jump suspected was true, maybe he deserved the titles of Dar’manda and Demagolka he’d given himself, but maybe he didn’t. They’d need to find older brothers and ask them, when they got out.</p>
<p>“Can you teach me?” Brick asked, “How to use the tools?”</p>
<p>Proto looked surprised, for a second. Then his face smoothed back into the blank one he usually wore when he knew they were watching.</p>
<p>“The trick is getting the right depth,” he said, “Too shallow, the ink won’t take; too deep, the lines smudge.”</p>
<p>He sighed, and shook his head.</p>
<p>“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” he threatened amusedly, “But yes, you can practice on me.”</p>
<p>He wouldn’t let Brick put the diamonds on him, though, simply a series of vertical lines around his arm in the same place.</p>
<p>“Doesn’t mean anything in particular,” he said, “Except someone used me for practice at some point.”</p>
<p>“Too deep,” he’d say, watching Brick hammer the mallet, or “Not deep enough.”</p>
<p>By the time the lines ringed Proto’s arm, Brick seemed to have gotten the hang of the art. Proto looked at the ring, nodded approvingly, and patted Brick on the shoulder.</p>
<p>“On Mandalore, you would be a real clan now, with a Leader and an Artist,” he said wistfully, “All you’d need is an Armorer.”</p>
<p>“Mince can be Armorer,” joked Jump, “He’s already our clothesmaker.”</p>
<p>Mince looked up from where he was carefully piercing furs with a tooth and sewing them together with thin strips of leather.</p>
<p>“I didn’t sign up for this job,” he deadpanned.</p>
<p>They laughed, but Brick noticed the wistfulness still in Proto’s eyes.</p>
<p>That was about three tendays before they heard the explosions.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Rex bared his teeth in anticipation. The 501st had established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, a boogeyman for slavers the Galaxy over. They’d taken enough freighters that the Hutts had started posting individual wanted posters for members of the 501st that had been especially annoying.</p>
<p>Naturally, the bounty for Anakin and Ahsoka was highest. However, Rex took pride in the fact that his reward was the highest of the non-Jedi.</p>
<p>Though Echo and Fives were catching up. Something about their affinity for explosives.</p>
<p>They were raiding a Trandoshan hunting moon today, one that they knew had bought brothers during the war for hunts. They didn’t expect to rescue anyone; they knew the reputation of hunting moons. But they could give their sleeping brothers vengeance, and the knowledge that no one else would be hurt like that again.</p>
<p>The main base was easy to take; they weren’t expecting the 501st’s kind of company. The few outposts on the planet fell easily. They were trying to slice the databanks at the main stronghold when they heard speeders.</p>
<p>Rex thought it was Trandoshans; he spun around with his blasters up. However, he put them down just as quickly.</p>
<p>They were brothers, on the speeders. Battered and bruised, but alive. Only one was still in blacks, the rest were in furs, in a rainbow of colors.</p>
<p>He ran to them in joy. The first one off his speeder was a trooper a little older than him, watching him warily.</p>
<p>“You’re the 501st?” He asked, in trepidation. Rex took his helmet off and nodded.</p>
<p>“Why’re you here?” One of the other Clones asked, similarly cautious.</p>
<p>They thought no one would come for them.</p>
<p>“The 501st has decided that slavery and the buying and selling of humans is bad,” Rex decided to take the direct route, “So we’ve begun chasing slavers around in our downtime.”</p>
<p>“And the Republic lets you?” The leader, the one who had spoken earlier, asked incredulously.</p>
<p>Rex grinned.</p>
<p>“The Republic,” He said serenely, “Has no idea where we are or what we’re doing at any given time. We left after the war ended.”</p>
<p>“The war ended?” Asked another Clone, stepping forward.</p>
<p>“A year ago,” Rex nodded. He let his voice grow somber.</p>
<p>“We would have come for you sooner if we realized you were here, you know that, right? We thought no one could survive the hunts,” he tried to reassure them.</p>
<p>The oldest one snorted.</p>
<p>“That Trandoshans probably would never admit it was even possible,” he said.</p>
<p>“Let’s get you to the sonics,” Rex said, “Unless you need a medic first?”</p>
<p>They shook their heads.</p>
<p>The eldest stepped forward. It was odd, to Rex; in most situations, the oldest Clone was the leader, but the leader was a different, younger Clone. The oldest one acted protective of all of the younger ones, though, so it wasn’t like he was cruel.</p>
<p>Rex was pulled from his musings by the older one, who waved the rest ahead to talk with Rex.</p>
<p>“I need to talk to them alone for a few minutes,” he said, “And then I’ll need to speak to what passes for command here.”</p>
<p>Rex nodded, confused.</p>
<p>“I’ll send someone to get you from the freshers in an hour,” he said, “That enough time?”</p>
<p>The older Clone nodded, and made his way after the rest of his group.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Jango could admit to himself that he was nervous, that he wasn’t looking forward to this next conversation. But he had made a promise, and he would keep it.</p>
<p>The sonics felt much nicer than they had any right to, really, but perhaps that was not too surprising. There were clothes left for them, blacks he believed they were called, and undergarments.</p>
<p>He was not disgruntled that the blacks were too long in the leg for him. He wasn’t!</p>
<p>They were in a barracks fresher, so after he showered, he drifted toward the bunk room.</p>
<p>The rest were waiting for him, looking pale in the cheap lighting.</p>
<p>He sat on a bunk quietly, and waited for a natural break in the conversation. He resolutely did not fidget.</p>
<p>Then a lull came, he spoke up, quietly.</p>
<p>“I need to tell you something,” he said. He felt the other men’s attention turn toward him.</p>
<p>“I promised to tell you the things I couldn’t on the planet,” he said, “Why I am Dar’manda and Demagolka.”</p>
<p>He held up his hand to forestall the customary reassurances. They were convinced he couldn’t be that bad. Maybe this would persuade them that yes, he could.</p>
<p>“Before I forfeited my name,” he stated evenly, “It was Jango Fett.”</p>
<p>Silence. He’d expected to be hit by now.</p>
<p>The younger ones were looking toward Jump and Brick for leadership. That was good, they wouldn’t be alone after they killed him.</p>
<p>Brick sighed. Jump rubbed his forehead. Neither were particularly surprised.</p>
<p>“We’d started to guess,” Jump said, to Jango’s raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>Jango blinked. Well, he’d never really taken pains to hide who he was, who he had been.</p>
<p>They’d just never started to treat him any differently, they’d kept coming to him for advice and the bits of Mandalorian culture he could give them trapped on that hellhole. </p>
<p>“Would you like to use the knife, or a blaster, or something else?” He offered. They’d known for a while, so they must have an idea.</p>
<p>They just blinked at him. Maybe they didn’t have an idea.</p>
<p>“The blaster is quick, and you don’t have to touch me,” he tried to encourage, “And the knife is less quick, but more personal, you’ll feel when I die.”</p>
<p>“What are you talking about?” Said Brick, in tones of faint horror.</p>
<p>“When you kill me,” Jango said, “I’m Demagolka, you can’t want to keep me alive now that I’m not essential to your survival.”</p>
<p>Wasn’t it obvious? Apparently not. They were staring at him in... something he couldn’t quite name.</p>
<p>Redsun came toward him. He could honestly say he wasn’t expecting the kid to be the one to do it, but then he was enfolded in a hug.</p>
<p>“We’re not going to kill you!” The kid was distraught.</p>
<p>Well. That, he wasn’t prepared to deal with.</p>
<p>“But I hurt you,” he said, absently, “I’m evil, I should be killed, if only to give your brothers peace.”</p>
<p>Redsun only squeezed him tighter. Was he crying?</p>
<p>“Don’t cry,” he tried to soothe, “It’ll be okay, I don’t blame you.”</p>
<p>Redsun cried harder, and squeezed him tighter. He looked to Brick and Jump for an explanation, and got twin flat looks. Helpful.</p>
<p>“If we have anything to say about it, and we do, you’ll stay alive. I think the best punishment I can think up if you having to live with yourself, knowing what you’ve done,” said Jump.</p>
<p>He wasn’t wrong.</p>
<p>Jango thought to himself, and sighed. He gently wrapped Redsun in a hug back, and then let go as a knock sounded on the door.</p>
<p>That would be their escort.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Anakin was over the moon- literally and figuratively. They’d taken the hunter’s retreat with no casualties, had even rescued some Clones! It was everything he’d ever dreamed of when he was a little boy on Tattooine.</p>
<p>The literal part, of course, would be that they were still in orbit around the moon.</p>
<p>He knocked on the door of the barracks they’d given the rescuees, and came in when told to by a muffled voice on the other side.</p>
<p>“I’m Jedi Knight-General Anakin Skywalker,” he introduced himself, “Nice to mee- Holy Kriffing Kark!”</p>
<p>Was he seeing a ghost?!</p>
<p>Jango Fett blinked back at him from where he was sitting next to a younger Clone.</p>
<p>“I’m not that ugly, am I?” He said, nudging the kid with his arm. The kid giggled.</p>
<p>Did Jango Fett really just go out of his way to make a Clone laugh?</p>
<p>“You’re not dead?!” Anakin exclaimed, feeling for his lightsaber. Fett lifted his hands in the air, calmly.</p>
<p>“I surrender,” he said, “I won’t fight.”</p>
<p>Anakin just blinked at him, then decided this was above his pay grade.</p>
<p>“Obi-wan!” He yelled into the hall, “Help!”</p>
<p>His older brother wasn’t actually in the hallway, but it make him feel better. He’d also alerted the older man with their bond, and he arrived in short order.</p>
<p>Obi-wan and some of the rest of the 212th had come along to function as a voice of reason. Anakin didn’t really see the purpose behind it, he could be plenty reasonable! But, well, Obi-wan had insisted.</p>
<p>“Anakin, what in the name of the Force has you so highly strung?” His older brother demanded, amused. Anakin pulled him into the small barracks, and pointed to Fett.</p>
<p>Obi-wan raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Good day, Mr. Fett,” He said evenly, “Please forgive my former apprentice, we were under the regrettable assumption that you had died.”</p>
<p>“There is no debt,” Said Fett evenly, still with his arms up, “I’d like to turn myself into the authority the Clones operate under, if possible.”</p>
<p>“Well, Commander Cody is on Dantooine, so I will take you into custody for the moment,” Obi-wan said after a moment.</p>
<p>Fett waited a beat, and then frowned.</p>
<p>“Are you going to take me into custody?” He prodded.</p>
<p>Obi-wan blinked.</p>
<p>“Yes, I just did,” he said.</p>
<p>“Handcuffs?” Fett prompted, shaking his wrists.</p>
<p>“I don’t see the need for them,” Obi-wan said cheerfully, “You don’t seem the type to try and turn himself in and then try to escape under a Jedi’s nose.”</p>
<p>“I’ve tried to escape a Jedi before,” Fett said dubiously, “I recall a fistfight in the rain, tossing you overboard, and then trying to blow you up.”</p>
<p>Obi-wan nodded, frowning slightly.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that,” Fett muttered.</p>
<p>Obi-wan brightened, and Anakin facepalmed.</p>
<p>“Just because someone apologizes for trying to kill you doesn’t mean you should forgive them!” Anakin said exasperatedly.</p>
<p>“It’s good manners!” Obi-wan retorted.</p>
<p>“So be polite to them,” Anakin said, still exasperated, “But don’t let them within stabbing reach!”</p>
<p>Fett watched in fascination.</p>
<p>“Is this normal for jetii?” He asked.</p>
<p>“No,” Anakin muttered, “I got Emily Post for a Jedi Master.”</p>
<p>“Anakin!” Said Obi-wan, scandalized. The Clones had long since started to laugh.</p>
<p>“We’ll take you into custody and transfer you to the Commanders on Dantooine,” Obi-wan decided to get back on topic, “They can decide what to do with you then.”</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Boba wasn’t sure why he had been called to meet the 501st when they returned to Dantooine. He knew they’d gone off on one of their anti slavery crusades, and that he was too little to come.</p>
<p>The nerve. He was older than everyone on that ship that wasn’t a Jedi.</p>
<p>But, well, they weren’t expecting survivors this time, so he couldn’t help show people around.</p>
<p>Colt walked with him to the landing site, to find a motley assortment of a Clones and Jedi already there. He and Colt stood with them and watched the ship land, watched the troopers disembark one by one and meet with brothers who had stayed behind.</p>
<p>Then a commotion started.</p>
<p>It began with a young Jedi Knight pulling at the arm of the CC next to her.</p>
<p>“Trig?” She asked, disbelieving, “Is that them?”</p>
<p>There were more Clones coming down the ramp, wearing only blacks.</p>
<p>The CC, Trig apparently, stepped forward.</p>
<p>“Jump? Brick?” He asked, “Is that you?”</p>
<p>Two Clones separated from the main group, jogging toward them.</p>
<p>“Commander Trig! Commander Yukino!” One called, happily.</p>
<p>The Jedi ran forward, hugging them both.</p>
<p>“You’re alive!” She shrieked in joy. Trig stepped forward and wrapped his arms around all three of them.</p>
<p>Several groups of Shinies converged on individual members of the group, and a group of veterans in light blue armor pulled one Clone away. There was only one left.</p>
<p>But, as he approached them, walking measuredly between Skywalker and Kenobi, Boba started to get a better look at him.</p>
<p>He was short for a Clone, smiling wistfully at the happy reunions going on around him. His eyes scanned around, before catching on Boba. They widened.</p>
<p>He was old, for a Clone, too. Older than any of the others Boba had seen.</p>
<p>He was looking at Boba like he’d found the most priceless thing in existence.</p>
<p>Only one person had ever looked at him like that.</p>
<p>“Dad?” He whispered, not believing. His Dad was dead. His Dad had been dead for four years.</p>
<p>His Dad was in front of him, stepping toward him, hesitant, shy almost.</p>
<p>“Boba?” He said, hopefully, “You’re here?”</p>
<p>Boba couldn’t help himself; he ran to his Dad and put his arms around him.</p>
<p>He could put his chin on his Dad’s shoulder now, standing up. Last he’d seen him, Boba came up to Dad’s rib cage.</p>
<p>Dad seemed to notice the difference, too, because he hugged Boba tighter.</p>
<p>“You’ve gotten so big,” he said, longingly, “I missed you growing up.”</p>
<p>“You’re here now,” Boba replied, “That’s what matters.”</p>
<p>His voice broke on the last word, and he felt Colt pat him on the back.</p>
<p>“Thank you for taking care of him,” he heard Dad whisper to Colt.</p>
<p>He couldn’t help it anymore.</p>
<p>His Dad was alive. He started to cry, feeling all the loneliness and fear from his years on the run, and his grief that he’d carried since Geonosis.</p>
<p>So he hugged his Dad and cried like he was half his age, and his Dad hugged back, and his big brother soothed him until everything was all right again.</p>
<p>And all right now looked much better than all right an hour ago.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Flightsuit, the long johns-looking garment Mandalorians wear under their armor.<br/>2. Older sibling<br/>3. War criminal/child torturer/the epitome of Mandalorian evil<br/>4. No longer Mandalorian; soulless. Jango has broken the Mandalorian cultural tenet of not abusing children.<br/>5. Siblings<br/>6. Outsider<br/>7. Total devastation; cosmic destruction; the Mandalorian hell<br/>8. Jedi, in Mandalorian pronunciation</p>
<p>I will admit to being inspired by the Island storyline from Arrow. Apparently Manu Bennet and Temuera Morrison are cousins. </p>
<p>I tried to be respectful in my depiction of traditional tattooing practices. I did my best to describe the method adequately, though I added some nods to sterilizing the equipment. I would like to make clear that I made the patterns up, and as far as I know there is no traditional meaning behind them. I did this on purpose, to try to respect the spiritual tradition behind predicting patterns in traditional Pacific Island tattoos.<br/>Mandalorian culture as depicted in the movies does have some influences from Mr. Morrison’s (And Daniel Logan’s) Maori roots, such as the Keldabe Kiss, which is based on the Maori action of Hongi (I’m sorry, I can’t figure out how to give the appropriate accents). I figured that the traditional tattoo would also be an addition that adds depth to the world, and would be a way for culture to be shared when no armor is available. </p>
<p>As always, I love comments, critiques, and favorite moments! Please tell me what you thought.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Because Of Course They Need Symbols</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Padawans and assorted other kids have been given too little supervision again.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one’s short, sweet, and (hopefully) funny, to balance out all the angst in the last chapter. <br/>Happy Thanksgiving to My American readers, and happy Thursday to my non-American ones (If I have any)!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Commander reflected that he had not given Cal nearly enough to do. He reflected upon this often, but today was particularly memorable.</p><p>It had been quiet. Too quiet. The Commander has been suspicious all day, but so far nothing had jumped out at him.</p><p>Literally or figuratively. Cal had taken too many liberties with springs and masks. Heaven knows where he got them.</p><p>He’d finally gone for a walk outside. The air was crisp, clear and cold, with a hint of frost still lurking. Then he’d gone to get a cup of caf from the mess, and had gone through the main hangar bay. He’d smelled wet paint, only to turn around and see a huge design painted on the bulkhead.</p><p>It was a yellow hammer, striking molten metal. There were words around it.</p><p>“13th, Albedo Brave,” it read, “The Iron Battalion.”</p><p>Commander closed his eyes. He opened then again. The painting was still there.</p><p>He sighed, and went looking for more caf. He hadn’t had enough to deal with this yet.</p><p>There might not be enough caf on Dantooine to deal with this.</p><p>“Tapal!” He yelled, walking back into the maze of passageways on the ship, “You need to give Cal more homework again!”</p><p>..</p><p>Obi-wan Kenobi could admit to amusement. He stared at the wall of the main hangar bay, finding a mural there that was definitely not there the previous night.</p><p>Cody, next to him, looked considerably less amused, with his arms folded and a glare on his face. Alpha just was not awake yet, and was in the ‘staring blankly and grunting’ stage of his morning.</p><p>It was quite a nice mural, in Obi-wan’s opinion, depicting a Clone trooper punching a battle droid’s head clean off. Despite not having the distinctive helmet, as the trooper was instead wearing a more generalized bucket, Obi-wan couldn’t help but be reminded of Cody.</p><p>Perhaps this was why he wasn’t amused.</p><p>Around the mural was writing, in a sturdy font:</p><p>“The 212th Battalion, The Negotiator,” on top, and “The Droid Punchers,” on the bottom.</p><p>“Now who could be the culprit for this lovely piece of art?” Obi-wan rubbed his beard thoughtfully.</p><p>Zatt, standing on Alpha’s other side, giggled.</p><p>...</p><p>Anakin was not awake enough for this. He’d spent the last night engrossed in tinkering with his mechanical arm, and had fallen asleep beside his wife in their shared quarters much too late for anyone sane. Then, when they’d gotten up and gotten the twins ready to go, and stumbled toward the cafeteria, he ran into this.</p><p>“Well,” Padmé said thoughtfully, with suppressed amusement, “Perhaps they aren’t too far off.”</p><p>“The 501st Legion,” mocked the hangar wall, “The Blue Loons.”</p><p>Between the two sets of words was a unidentifiable blue creature. It’s eyes were spirals, and it was either screaming or yelling, either falling or pouncing.</p><p>It was a very confusing drawing. Several Clones were staring at it, duly confused, and the effects of the mural were probably only compounded by the lack of caf this early.</p><p>Where was Ahsoka? And Echo and Fives, for that matter? He needed to ask them some questions.</p><p>...</p><p>Grey didn’t deserve this. He’d been a good commander! He’d followed all the rules of the Resol’nare, and the New Jedi Code even, and he’d never been mean or cruel to anyone except droids!</p><p>He may be a tad melodramatic before caf, but every man had his flaws.</p><p>Depa made a humming noise beside him. He admired her restraint. If he made any noise right now, it would probably be unsuitable for the Littles in the corner to hear.</p><p>“I sense that Caleb had a hand in this,” she said serenely.</p><p>“Ya think?” He shot back, less serenely.</p><p>She gave him a quelling look, and in response he indicated the new mural on their Hangar wall.</p><p>It was a Corellian Devil, bright red skin, forked tail, yellow eyes, and all. Instead of the traditional harvesting implement, it was sporting a blaster.</p><p>But what caught Grey’s attention was the rather distinctive diagonal scar that ran from the center of its hairline to the left cheekbone.</p><p>It was a perfect match for his own scar.</p><p>Around the Devil was their legion number, and below it was a tag line: “The Red Devils.”</p><p>He heard Depa stifle a giggle and gave her a betrayed look.</p><p>“We may need to find my Padawan,” she said serenely.</p><p>“We may,” he agreed, mock gravely, and they strode off to do just that.</p><p>...</p><p>Plo quite liked the new addition to their hangar. It was a large and quite lovingly painted mural, emblematic of their legion.</p><p>“104th Legion,” said the writing surrounding it, “The Wolfpack.”</p><p>The mural itself was of Loth-wolves, a large pack of them. One brown, one white, the rest black, all running happily through a forest in pursuit of their prey. There was even adorable little wolf pups running along with the adults, one beside a one-eyed wolf right behind the brown leader, others with other wolves or in small groups.</p><p>It made Plo smile when he saw it. It also gave him the urge to hug one of his sons, not a new phenomena, but a welcomed one.</p><p>“Someone has too much time on their hands,” said Wolffe evenly, next to him. Wolffe had just volunteered himself for a hug. He hugged back absently, still focused on the mural. Akela stopped just behind them, keeping Wolffe on his blind side.</p><p>The child had learned that his father would keep watch for him, and warn him if he was about to run into anything on that side, so he trusted Wolffe to see for him. It warmed Plo’s admittedly already-warm heart.</p><p>“My apprentice,” he said to no one in particular, “Why did you not sign your work?”</p><p>Katooni shrugged.</p><p>“Didn’t occur to me,” she said evenly, “Also, I had help.”</p><p>Akela yawned widely.</p><p>...</p><p>Colt couldn’t say he disliked the mural, per se, but it was a surprise. Not a bad one either, but certainly not something he expected.</p><p>“I have ideas about who the culprits are for this,” his Buir said idly, standing next to him.</p><p>“I have an entire ship full of potential culprits,” Colt replied, “The problem is narrowing them down.”</p><p>“Try the ones who requested ship-grade paint last Centaxday,” his Buir suggested. Colt blinked. That had been... Han, Colt, and Boba.</p><p>Color him unsurprised.</p><p>“They may have had help,” he said, looking at the sheer scale of the mural.</p><p>“Oh, most definitely. It’s quite nice, though, isn’t it?”</p><p>The mural was more broad than tall. It depicted a thousand identical boys and men, from infanthood slowly progressing through to adulthood, standing side by side, facing the observer. Behind them loomed a protective figure, a silhouette really, wearing robes over their montrals and carrying a lit lightsaber, the exact blue of her lightsaber.</p><p>“Kamino Garrison,” read the tag, “The Sons of the Jedi.”</p><p>...</p><p>Jedi Master Yoda had never seen such a thing in all his eight hundred years. Admittedly, this could be said about the entirety of the Dantooine Enclave, but he was specifically talking about the mural in front of him.</p><p>“Unusual, this is,” he remarked idly.</p><p>His commander nodded next to him.</p><p>“I’ll run the Littles through a few more drills, and make them scrub it off,” he said.</p><p>‘It’ was a simple size comparison drawing, a small green stick figure and a white stick figure next to it. Somewhat wobbly writing proclaimed the hangar bay to belong to their legion, the ‘Little Green Men.’</p><p>“No need, there is, to clean it,” Yoda said, “Charmed, I find myself. Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.”</p><p>“If you say so, sir,” his Commander said, and dodged the gimer stick to his shins. Yoda had told him not to call him sir.</p><p>...</p><p>Mace looked at the drawing on the wall, and then at Ponds next to him.</p><p>Ponds looked back, implacably.</p><p>“You did say you used to do theater,” he reminded Mace.</p><p>Mace sighed, and regarded the mural.</p><p>“187th Legion,” it read in ornate letters, “The Fighting Thespians.”</p><p>“You didn’t, though,” he murmured back.</p><p>The mural was of a Clone Trooper with the basic marking of their legion, holding up a droid’s head and soliloquizing to it.</p><p>“Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well,” Mace murmured.</p><p>“A fellow of infinite jest,” Ponds muttered back.</p><p>“Well, someone seems to have a pretty good supply of jest around here,” Mace countered, gesturing to the mural. Ponds shrugged.</p><p>“It’s not hurting anyone,” he said, “And I don’t want to be the one to assign someone to scrub it off.”</p><p>Mace nodded.</p><p>“I didn’t know you enjoyed plays,” he said, consideringly.</p><p>Ponds shrugged again.</p><p>“Master Nu gave me a couple holorecordings of your performances once,” he mentioned.</p><p>“Which ones?” Mace asked in a tone of dread. Ponds just smirked at him.</p><p>...</p><p>Ahsoka and Squad Epsilon-33 stood back and admired their work. They didn’t have a Venator, they probably never would, but they had Ahsoka’s Mandalorian shuttle that she had used during the time she had left the order. It was small, and somewhat dilapidated (though not as much as the Twilight), but it was theirs.</p><p>On the galley wall, possibly the single largest blank space inside the ship, they’d painted a trabbit, running. And, well, Ahsoka knew her knighthood was coming soon, and Boss and his men knew they would be assigned to Ahsoka when the time came.</p><p>Rex had begun by giving her charge of 332nd Company. And if it happened to be the company Epsilon-33 had been recently reassigned to, well, they considered that a heavy hint.</p><p>Maybe they took a few artistic liberties, but no one would really care. It wasn’t like the painting was on the outside of the ship.</p><p>Around the stylized trabbit was the major artistic liberty. If asked, they would claim hope, and nothing more. It wasn’t like the number was in use by a legion, they checked.</p><p>“332nd Legion,” It said, “The Wild Hunt.”</p><p>It never hurt to dream.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, comments/favorite lines/reviews are appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The Show Must Go On</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes it’s not just the kids getting into mischief.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys! Happy to see you again! Figuratively, at least.<br/>Thank you for your enthusiastic reviews, especially for The Hunter and the Hunted. I was nervous about posting that one.<br/>I’m branching out: meet Mace, Ponds, and the 187th Legion!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started with holo night at the 187th Legion. Due to the lack of fiction holos in the Archives, most of the fare was eclectic; sometimes a holo was one a trooper bought due to their own taste, sometimes an educational holo from the Archives’ Virtual Classes, sometimes something else entirely.</p><p>Tonight, Ponds reflected, it was something else entirely. When he had gone to the Archives the day before to try and find something interesting, Master Nu smiled at him and motioned him over.</p><p>He liked Master Nu. She was no-nonsense.</p><p>“We’ve just unpacked something that you might find intriguing,” she murmured to him, showing him a holodisc.</p><p>“Really?” He arched a brow after reading the disc title. Dha’beskad. It looked like a Mandalorian romance novel.</p><p>“I would advise you to peruse the performers list,” Master Nu suggested archly.</p><p>Ponds scanned his eyes down the info graphic notes. It wasn’t a romance holo, thank the Force, but a play based on the life of Tarre Vizla. He started on the list of actors and didn’t have to go very far until he stopped, and felt himself grin.</p><p>“Master Nu,” He said respectfully, “You are an Angel in Archivist form.”</p><p>Master Nu nodded at him, stern and implacable as always, if you ignored the mischievous light in her eyes.</p><p>“Good day, Commander Ponds,” she bid him, and he wished her well in return, before gleefully making his way back to the ship with the holo in his hand.</p><p>They’d watched plays before, some with Mace in them, even. Master Nu had loaned some of her favorites, the ones she packed on the top of the dizzying array of meticulously catalogued crates containing thousands upon thousands of holobooks and holofilms. There were privileges to being Master Archivist.</p><p>But those plays, while well-done, were mostly cultural pieces, deep and academic, with a thousand different types of symbolism and more metaphors than Ponds could parse.</p><p>This one had a Mandalorian in an approximation of full armor on it.</p><p>It looked promising.</p><p>Because Ponds was a good friend, he let Mace and the rest of the Legion know that they were watching a historical play for holo night. Because he was a shebs who liked to laugh at his brothers, he didn’t let them know what play it was, or who had the starring role.</p><p>Though he would make sure to sit next to Mace, if only to see the look on his face, because he was in need of a good laugh.</p><p>He counted down the hours until holo night the next day, when they dimmed the lights in the main cargo bay and rigged several personal comms together to simulate a real holoprojector.</p><p>Mace stiffened when the title cards rolled, even more so when the play began. Then, he just settled resignedly.</p><p>“I hope you know that you’re quite the troublemaker,” he muttered to Ponds.</p><p>Ponds nodded happily back.</p><p>The play opened with a group of Younglings learning of different cultures. Ponds had to repress a coo, as the kids were obviously actual Younglings that were very excited to be in a play. They blurted their lines with enthusiasm, it was so cute! He almost didn’t notice the thread of the plot; one of the Younglings asking their teacher about Mandalore, and if there were any Mandalorian Jedi.</p><p>The scene changed, with the teacher’s voice narrating a setting: “Long Ago, Before the Fall of the Old Republic...”</p><p>The lights came back up, revealing the stage where a group of Jedi were making their way through a hallway. Their robes were slightly different, but other than that, they looked pretty much the same as the Jedi next to him.</p><p>In fact, one looked near-exactly the same. Except he had hair.</p><p>Noises of surprise and delight ran through the assembled men. Mace put his face in his hands as the young Jedi on the holoprojection turned to face the audience.</p><p>“His name was Tarre Viszla,” narrated the teacher, “And he had been raised in the Temple as long as he could remember, much like you.”</p><p>In the holo Mace, or rather Tarre Viszla, ducked into a classroom as a bell chimed. He and a group of other twenty-somethings began to go through forms, and then spar.</p><p>“Tarre Viszla was always passionate and enjoyed combat, proving himself against others,” the teacher’s voice continued, as Tarre took visible pleasure in fighting his opponent, “Not the most Jedi of virtues, but he was a good Jedi nonetheless. He might have lived his life in service and obscurity if he weren’t sent on a mission to Mandalore.”</p><p>An important-looking group of Jedi came in and dismissed the class, leaving only Tarre.</p><p>“You have been assigned to try and broker peace between the warring clans of Mandalore,” the lead important Jedi intoned. Tarre visibly gulped, but nodded.</p><p>“Yes, Masters,” He said, and the scene changed again.</p><p>...</p><p>Mace sighed. He’d enjoyed acting in this play when he was younger, but he had no clue then what war was like, what Mandalorians were like, what life outside the Temple was like. He’d been naive.</p><p>Still, though, his men seemed to enjoy the performance, cheering at the comedic interludes such as when Tarre’s new Mandalorian friend Wren tried to feed him some traditional Mandalorian dishes, which were much too spicy for the Jedi raised on bland Temple food.</p><p>Mace winced. He hadn’t been acting, there, they’d actually gotten something from a Mandalorian restaurant on the Lower Levels and given it to him on stage. He’d almost cried. Knight Requore Vin, who had played Wren, was much too amused.</p><p>Ponds smirked at him, the shebs. Why was Ponds his best friend again?</p><p>“My spice tolerance has grown since then, Commander,” he growled softly.</p><p>“Of course,” Ponds replied patronizingly, patting him on the shoulder.</p><p>They returned their attention to the play, to find Tarre and Wren growing closer; Tarre becoming more and more admiring of the Mandalorian culture, with it’s directness and willingness to fight for their beliefs, and contemptuous of the corrupt Republic.</p><p>Finally came the climactic scene; Tarre had started to lead negotiations, but one clan broke treaty, trying to kill the Jedi. Wren had thrown himself in front of the bolt, and died dramatically in Tarre’s arms. Tarre swore he would make peace in his friend’s name, and Wren had gifted him his own armor with his dying breath.</p><p>Ponds wiped a tear from his eye discreetly as the scene changed. Mace patted his shoulder. That had been a difficult scene to act.</p><p>The lighting grew red, and the music started to roll to a crescendo. Tarre, wearing Wren’s armor, led a coalition of clans against the clan who broke the treaty. He dramatically challenged the leader of the traitors to battle. During the course of the battle, it was revealed that they had been paid by several members of the Republic to destabilize peace talks, as they feared a united Mandalore.</p><p>After a scripted fight scene, the leader perished, though Tarre’s lightsaber had been broken. Tarre frowned down at the saber, and used the Force to take it apart, then he took up the traitor’s vibro-saber and took it apart as well, reassembling them both together. When he ignited it, the formerly white blade bent and curved with the vibro-forcefield, which also obscured its light.</p><p>Every Clone knew what that saber meant.</p><p>“I declare myself ruler of this tribe, and any who swear allegiance to me! But be aware, all that are not with me,” Tarre proclaimed, with a dramatic pause as he thrust the darksaber in the air, “Are my enemy.”</p><p>The Mandalorians knelt and swore fealty, in union, and Tarre nodded in content.</p><p>“There will be peace among the Clans of Mandalore,” he proclaimed, “From this moment on. And the Republic,” he snarled, “Let the Republic fear.”</p><p>The curtain fell, and the lights in the theater went up. The Clones started to rouse from their positions.</p><p>“That. Was. Awesome!” cheered Rook, a Shiny who had just transferred to their legion before the war ended.</p><p>“Good acting, General,” agreed Kelp, one of the veterans.</p><p>Mace resolutely did not blush.</p><p>“How real was that play, General?” Brink, another veteran, asked curiously.</p><p>“Fairly true, from what we can check. A short time after Tarre Viszla died, the Jedi Temple was sacked, so our records from that time are fragmentary,” Mace replied, “And I’ve told you to call me by my name.”</p><p>“Sorry, Windu,” muttered Brink and Kelp.</p><p>Better.</p><p>Rook, as well as his squadmates Knight, Castle, King, and Bishop, were conversing together conspiratorially. Mace turned his attention to them. Chess Squad conspiring was never good.</p><p>Ponds agreed with him, evidently, as he stood up and walked over.</p><p>“Care to share, gentlemen?” He asked archly.</p><p>“We should put on the play!” Said Castle, excitedly.</p><p>“We don’t have any props, or a stage,” Ponds pointed out.</p><p>“We have lots of Jedi robes, and lots of Jedi,” Knight pointed out reasonably, “And we can repaint over the lower visor split on some old Phase 1 helmets, and saw the fins off. That’d make it close to a Mandalorian helmet.”</p><p>Mace did not like the considering look that many of his men started to adopt.</p><p>“And it’s not like we have a shortage of men willing to play Mandalorians,” Bishop pointed out, to eager nods.</p><p>“But who would you have play Viszla?” Mace asked, mostly out of horrified fascination.</p><p>A hundred eyes turned to him.</p><p>Oh no. They were using the puppy-massiff eyes.</p><p>He told no chance.</p><p>...</p><p>Master Nu was overjoyed to hear Mace Windu had decided to take up theater again. She was even more overjoyed to hear that his legion had decided to take it up with him. The 187th was full of intelligent, inquisitive men who always returned their holobooks on time. She was sure they would create a stellar performance.</p><p>Their first play, as had been announced through the rumor mill, was Dha’Beskad, the holorecording she’d given them. She’d thought it would appeal to them, with the less abstract symbolism and the Mandalorian elements that had been included.</p><p>Dha’Beskad was unusual in Jedi Literature as it took a more nuanced view of Mandalorians than many other works did, accepting that they were a group of people with different customs and that individuals within the group could either be good or bad. It also was somewhat heretical for presenting Tarre Viszla in a sympathetic light, even though he left the Order.</p><p>However, she supposed that in the current climate of the Order, he was much more sympathetic now than thirty years ago, in the Order that was focused on their duty to the Republic.</p><p>The announcement also read they would adapt the script slightly, to accommodate the cast and available props. She was intrigued.</p><p>Naturally, she arranged to be at the first performance of the modified play, and arrived early to find an advantageous seat. The stage was not quite a stage per se; the 187th had modified a secondary hangar bay to create one, walling part of it off to create a backstage area, and elevating the stage itself for visibility to the audience. It was quite well done, when one considered the materials they had available.</p><p>The lights went down right on time, and the audience hushed in anticipation. When the curtain opened, Jocasta could see one of the modifications to the script right away. Instead of the expected class of Jedi Younglings, it was instead a class of Clone Littles. However, the dialogue was much the same, learning about different planets the Jedi Order came from.</p><p>“We’re Mandalorians,” The Clone Instructor said gently, “We come from here.”</p><p>He brought up a holo of Mandalore, and started talking about the history, but paused expectantly. One of the Littles, obviously missing his cue by half a beat, startled and asked a question loudly, to make up for time missed.</p><p>“Are there any other Mandalorian Jedi?” He said, wide eyed. A small giggle ran through the audience.</p><p>Jocasta couldn’t help a smile. Children were precious, especially on stage.</p><p>The Clone Instructor smiled at the Little, and started the opening narration.</p><p>“Once, there was,” He said, “Long Ago, before the fall of the Old Republic...”</p><p>The lights dimmed, and the introduction began. They’d modified the scene a little; Tarre was running forms alone, before sparring with one other Knight. It was Knight Billaba, who probably was acting as a favor to her Master. The Ancient Council was played by Clones in various wigs and robes. It was quite humorous. The audience carefully did not laugh, but it was close for some of the Clones.</p><p>The Mandalorians were all played by Clones, who thickened their accent to say their lines more authentically. Some lines were even translated to Mando’a, relying upon the Jedi Order’s near-universal understanding of the language in a way that was not possible the last time the play was performed.</p><p>The play ran smoothly, even humorously at places, such as when Wren, played by Commander Ponds, tricked Tarre into trying traditional Mandalorian food. Mace took a bite, choked very realistically, and glared at his friend with watering eyes. Ponds smiled beatifically back.</p><p>A ripple of laughter spread through the auditorium.</p><p>Jocasta even found herself dabbing away tears during the climactic scene of Wren’s death; it was clear that Windu was using some of his real emotion for Ponds in his performance, and it was touching to everyone present. Some of the clones and younger Knights cried visibly. Poor Boba Fett was trying to pretend he wasn’t and failing miserably. Jango wasn’t doing much better; he had gotten a special exception to his house arrest while he was awaiting trial to attend.</p><p>When the play concluded with Mace doing a very well-done threat to the Republic, everyone clapped as the curtain went down. There were three encores, and Clones from differing legions threw wildflowers up on the stage.</p><p>Jocasta found Mace after, talking with Ponds and some of the other actors.</p><p>“Bravo, gentlemen,” she said, “Your performance was impeccable.”</p><p>Several of the Clones blushed. Mace did too, though he would steadfastly deny it.</p><p>“Inquiring minds must know,” she continued, “Is this a single play? Or will you be doing others?”</p><p>Ponds got a calculating gleam in his eyes.</p><p>“I’ve always like the works of Spacespeare,” he said consideringly.</p><p>Mace sighed, longsuffering, though there was a smile in his eyes that told her he wasn’t near as put-upon as he was acting.</p><p>“I don’t think I can stop this,” he said to Master Nu.</p><p>Jocasta smiled back, and made a note to keep an ear out for the next play. Finally, some culture!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love comments/reviews/favorite moments! Thank You!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Jedi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Zatt, from what Little we saw of him in canon, likes to tinker. You know who else likes to tinker?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One of the short and sweet ones that wouldn’t leave me alone ‘till I wrote it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anakin reached for his half-centimeter vertical hydrospanner and frowned. It wasn’t where he’d left it.</p>
<p>Of course, Obi-wan would say that wasn’t concerning, given the amount of clutter in his workshop on a given day. However, Anakin knew where everything was, thank you very much.</p>
<p>Even if some of it happened to be under the scrap metal he was storing.</p>
<p>For later! You never knew when a good scrap could be used to patch the Twilight!</p>
<p>But the hydrospanner wasn’t anywhere in his workshop.</p>
<p>Calling it a workshop might have been stretching it, but that was what it was for Anakin. It was a corner of the hangar where he kept the Twilight, where he’d used some scrap metal to set up some workbenches and toolboxes. It was a good place to work on an MSE droid, or to tinker with a new addition to the Twilight, and if he needed to work on the Twilight itself his tools were close by. Sometimes the Clone Mechanics borrowed his tools, which he was fine with, but they left notes and put them back when they were done.</p>
<p>There was no note.</p>
<p>Anakin sighed, and started to wander around the bay. Sometimes the mechanics did forget to put the tools back, or to leave a note. No one was perfect. But there were no other mechanics in the bay, and all the tools appeared to have been put away on the hanging racks on the walls. He checked in the right spot, and there were a couple hydrospanners there, but none were his.</p>
<p>He made his way back to his shop, disgruntled. He knew he hadn’t misplaced it!</p>
<p>He almost missed the small giggle coming from the bay control.</p>
<p>The bay control area was a small enclosed blast-proof room which contained all the detection equipment readouts for incoming ships, and housed the flight controllers. While, when the bay was still used as a hangar. Now, it was a small empty enclosed area, apparently used by Padawans up to no good.</p>
<p>Or, well, that was the conclusion Anakin drew, looking down at Zatt with his half-centimeter vertical hydrospanner held in the boy’s hand.</p>
<p>“I was looking for that,” he said evenly.</p>
<p>“Whoops,” Zatt shrugged timidly. He held out the spanner in a conciliatory gesture, but Anakin wasn’t really mad.</p>
<p>That gadget the kid was working on, though...</p>
<p>“What’s that for?” He changed the subject.</p>
<p>Zatt looked down at the mass of wires he was trying to adjust.</p>
<p>“I was hoping to make a better dive readout for my friends,” he said shyly.</p>
<p>Anakin blinked and turned his head sideways. The mass of wires Zatt was playing with did vaguely look like a Clone Helmet’s internals.</p>
<p>But with some odd additions.</p>
<p>“What are you trying to add?” He said, picking up a small part. It was a micro-mass-spectrometer, one off an old lab droid.</p>
<p>“Well, I’m trying to add a pressure gauge,” Zatt said shyly, “Because they have a depth gauge already, but sometimes pressure changes for other reasons. And a spectrometer, because I want them to know what they’re swimming in.”</p>
<p>Anakin grimaced.</p>
<p>“Have you considered that sometimes, it’s better not to know?” He asked.</p>
<p>Zatt grimaced back.</p>
<p>“Yes, but I’m trying to make it so that the display readout can be turned off, and only pop up if they’re in something toxic to humans,” he said.</p>
<p>Anakin blinked. That was insightful.</p>
<p>“Have you considered mounting the spectrometer on a limb?” He said, “That way they don’t have to stick their head in the water before they’re alerted of danger.”</p>
<p>Zatt looked at him, wide-eyed.</p>
<p>“Great idea!” He exclaimed, “Arm or leg?”</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Obi-wan was wondering where his apprentice was. He wasn’t on the Negotiator, the bond told him that, and he wasn’t in any of the areas he’d expect to find him on the Resolute either.</p>
<p>Ahsoka and Rex had been very helpful, or at least as helpful as two people watching twelve babies could be. The newly named Skywalker-1 squad were mostly quiet and gentle, but twelve babies were still a handful. Luckily, the Nursery Clones had been very understanding about having two babies added to their roster for the day, and Anakin and Padmé were working on a way to have the babies with them at night.</p>
<p>It was a big job.</p>
<p>Only Anakin could adopt ten babies by accident.</p>
<p>He decided to find Anakin; he might have an idea of where Zatt was.</p>
<p>He discovered, as he entered the repair bay that Anakin had claimed for his own, that Anakin had more than and idea.</p>
<p>“If you attach the mainframe here,” Anakin was pointing out something on his workbench, “You can fit in an ultraviolet scope, expand the vision spectrum more. Might be useful, a lot of aquatic species see more in UV than in the human spectrum.”</p>
<p>“All the signs in Tipoca were in ultraviolet,” Zatt nodded. Anakin blinked.</p>
<p>“How do you know that?” He asked curiously.</p>
<p>“The Clones didn’t scrub the paint off all the way when they took the city apart,” Zatt smiled, “The roof of Ponics Bay 13 still has a sign telling people where the ‘fresher is.”</p>
<p>Obi-wan rounded the corner to see his former and current Padawans hunched over a suit of armor that looked like a cross between the dive armor that Zatt’s friends had used and something out of a sci-fi holo.</p>
<p>He got a flashback to Anakin’s apprenticeship, waking up one morning to find a little blond boy taking apart the cooking unit. That had been the first time he had encountered Anakin’s love for mechanics. It had not been the last.</p>
<p>And now there were two of them. It was his own fault, he supposed, he knew Zatt liked tinkering when he adopted him.</p>
<p>He hoped Zatt had more restraint than Anakin when it came to disassembling the appliances.</p>
<p>“What do we have here?” He asked, mostly to get his mind off of the past.</p>
<p>“I’m making my friend’s armor better!” Zatt replied cheerfully.</p>
<p>Obi-wan turned to Anakin, who shrugged.</p>
<p>“The armor is decent now, but it’s built by the lowest bidder. It’ll stop a blaster shot and is probably more durable than anything except Beskar, but the computer components aren’t the best engineered,” he explained, “So we’re fixing that, and adding some more gadgets, because we can!”</p>
<p>Obi-wan had forgotten how terribly enthusiastic Anakin could get about engineering. It was somewhat frightening.</p>
<p>He looked at Anakin and Zatt, and made a decision. His bother and his son were on Anakin’s ship, in Anakin’s workshop, using Anakin’s tools and Anakin’s parts, under Anakin’s questionably adult supervision.</p>
<p>If anything went wrong, it followed that it was Anakin’s problem. He about-faced and left the bay.</p>
<p>He hoped he wouldn’t regret this later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love comments, and reviews! Thank you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Call the Midwife</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The wheel of time turns, and the Skywalker children start to meet the outside world.<br/>The outside world was not adequately prepared for this.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wanted to start accomplishing purpose 2 of Put Our Faces To The Sun: time skipping, and setting up some new characters. I have vague plans to write some of the events in the Original Trilogy, heavily modified to fit this AU; this is me stepping towards that.</p><p>Warnings: Childbirth scenario; the actual birth is not described, it ends well</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lieutenant Firmus Piett was having a decent enough day. He was running comms on a routine sweep of the Hydian Way for pirates on the small frigate Tempestuous. They were tracking a lead on Hondo Ohnaka, but it wasn’t expected to pan out.</p><p>It was quiet for quite a while, until it wasn’t. That was just life in the Anti-Pirate Fleet.</p><p>The bridge received a distress signal; he ordered the holo to be out up. The Captain was off-duty; he was ranking officer.</p><p>A panicked Weequay filled the screen.</p><p>“Oh, the horror!” He cried, “The calamity! The Great Hondo Ohnaka simply cannot fathom how humans survived this!! How have they managed to continue as a species?!”</p><p>Apparently that lead was good after all.</p><p>“Calm down,” Piett ordered, steeling himself, “What’s the difficulty!”</p><p>“She’s giving birth!” The Weequay wailed, “I don’t know what to do!”</p><p>A woman’s voice came from out of the projection.</p><p>“Hondo, give me the comm,” she ordered calmly.</p><p>When the field of projection shifted, Piett’s first thought was that Hondo had kidnapped the Mother Goddess. Then he shook himself.</p><p>The Mother Goddess was a deity from Axillia, his home planet. His mother was one of her midwife-priestesses, and had several small shrines in their home. Depictions of the Mother Goddess were not standard by design; traditionally they were modeled after the artist’s own mother, surrounded by children.</p><p>The woman in the holo was indeed surrounded by children. She was also quite visibly pregnant.</p><p>“My name is Padmé Amidala,” she sighed, “I would like to request a medic, as I’ve started to have contractions.”</p><p>“Right away, ma’am,” he agreed, turning to the rest of the bridge.</p><p>Bridge may be a grandiose term. The frigate only had seven crew members, a pilot, a copilot, a medic, two martial officers, the captain, and Piett himself. It was more a glorified cockpit.</p><p>“Dock with the ship,” he ordered, “And alert the medical officer to meet me at the docking hatch.”</p><p>“What if it’s a trap, sir?” Asked his co-pilot.</p><p>“And what if it’s not?” He asked in return.</p><p>Childbirth could be risky business outside a medical facility.</p><p>The medic met him at the docking hatch, as ordered, carrying a medkit. They proceeded through to find a group of anxious pirates gathered around the woman and the children.</p><p>Thankfully, she didn’t appear to be in distress.</p><p>“Lieutenant Firmus Piett, Ma’am,” he introduced himself, then started barking orders.</p><p>“Give her space! Clear out!” He ordered, and then turned to Ohnaka.</p><p>“Do you have a private room?” He asked, businesslike. The pirate led them to one, still shaken.</p><p>The medic asked her a couple questions. Not very useful ones. “What’s your age? What’s your planet of origin?”</p><p>He didn’t tell her to lie down, or get a place ready for her on the bed. He didn’t even tell the children to leave the room.</p><p>Piett started to have a suspicion.</p><p>“Hastings,” he addressed his medical officer, “Have you attended a birth before?”</p><p>“No, sir,” the medic said absently, “But I was taught using simulators.”</p><p>Piett swore.</p><p>“Keep the children out of trouble and get a clean blanket,” he said, and nearly shoved the man out of the room.</p><p>He stripped the bed in one motion, and retrieved a plastic wrap from the medkit to lay on it. It wasn’t a hospital bed, but it was sterile. She laid down gingerly.</p><p>“Are you early, late, or on your due date?” He ran through the list he always remembered his mother asking as he put on gloves.</p><p>“I’m a little late, actually,” she said. Good. Not premature, then.</p><p>“Is this your first child?”</p><p>“No,” she smiled, “I had twins nine years ago. They’re part of the group with me.”</p><p>“Good,” He said. First births were often harder. Next question.</p><p>“About how long did your labor last then?”</p><p>“Oh, twelve hours,” she said, starting to pale, “But it wasn’t this bad until six hours in. I’ve only been in labor for four hours already.”</p><p>“Second births can be faster,” he offered.</p><p>“Something tells me you’ve done this before,” Amidala said shakily. He nodded.</p><p>“My Mother is a midwife; often, the midwife’s children accompany them to help, where I’m from,” he offered.</p><p>“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Amidala muttered.</p><p>“Axxila,” He said wryly, “The epitome of Outer Rim Backwards Living, I’m afraid.”</p><p>“Not worse than Tattooine,” Amidala grunted.</p><p>He wondered how such a Lady as herself knew that. She was obviously of high standing.</p><p>The birth went fairly well, though painfully, unfortunately. It was a beautiful little girl, whose lungs worked very well. Piett wrapped the baby in a warm towel after he dried her off, rested her on Amidala’s stomach, and tied off the umbilical cord.</p><p>“Congratulations,” he offered awkwardly. Amidala just laughed tiredly at him.</p><p>“Can you get my children in here?” She asked.</p><p>“The twins?” He tried to clarify.</p><p>“No, all of them. It’s a long story,” she said, in response to his surprised look.</p><p>He opened the door, only to be nearly overwhelmed by the group of children outside. He stepped inside, to watch as they rushed to the bed and started to talk with their mother.</p><p>Hastings, the medic, stepped up next to him.</p><p>“Should we take her into custody?” He asked. Piett startled.</p><p>“Why in the Galaxy’s name...” he started to ask, before Hastings jerked his head to the children.</p><p>“Ten of those kids look exactly the same,” he said darkly, “Exactly. The Clones disappeared nine years ago, and they’re nine years old. Dark hair, dark eyes, tan skin. She’s harboring fugitive Republic Property.”</p><p>Piett watched Amidala put her hand out to one of the identical boys and stroke his cheek. The child leaned into her touch. Another was holding the baby like she was the most precious thing in the world, with another two and the blond boy cooing over her.</p><p>“No,” he said, “They’re children. She’s their mother.”</p><p>“They’re Republic Property!” Insisted Hastings.</p><p>“Do they look like things, property, to you?” Said Piett cooly.</p><p>The children had quieted as their mother fell asleep. They all took turns holding their baby sister, whispering to her with wide smiles.</p><p>Hastings took a step toward him.</p><p>“You there!” He snarled. That was as far as he got; Piett stunned him. The children watched him with wide eyes. One of the pirates, Ohnaka, ran in and stopped with wide eyes as well.</p><p>“He seems to be convinced the children are fugitive Clones,” Piett explained mildly, “And grew quite unreasonable. I apologize.”</p><p>The pirate began to bluster, but was cut off by the sound of another ship docking rather forcefully with the pirate ship. Not three seconds later, a wild-eyed man with a lightsaber burst in.</p><p>“Where is she, Hondo?!” He growled. Piett stepped in front of the lady and her children, but unfortunately, the man could easily see them, over his head.</p><p>Curse his height, or lack thereof.</p><p>“Please stay back,” Piett attempted anyway, “The Lady is resting.”</p><p>“It’s alright,” Amidala’s voice called, “He’s my husband.”</p><p>Piett blinked. Ah. Yes. The existence of children would imply a male influence of some sort.</p><p>“Dad!” The children shrieked, running toward him. That, more than anything else, convinced Piett of the unknown lightsaber wielder’s good intentions. He stepped back and lowered his stunner.</p><p>The man deactivated his lightsaber, and it was only after Piett’s eyes readjusted to the dimmer light of the room that he recognized Anakin Skywalker, the Hero with No Fear.</p><p>Well. He was not expecting that.</p><p>“Padmé!” Skywalker exclaimed, before freezing in his tracks.</p><p>“Hello,” He said, in a voice full of wonder, to the little girl in his wife’s arms. Piett couldn’t help but smile, but he jumped when Skywalker raised his voice.</p><p>“Vode, get in here!” He shouted. Almost before he was done, a troop of people in brightly colored armor and brown robes ran in. Obi-wan Kenobi, a Nautolan man, and four Clones. They were all armed.</p><p>“Is that...?” Asked Kenobi, gently.</p><p>“This is Verdé Amidala-Skywalker!” Grinned Skywalker. He looked down at his daughter, holding her securely, and angled her to see the group.</p><p>“The old man-“ he started.</p><p>“Anakin!” Rebuked Kenobi.</p><p>“He’s my older brother, your Uncle Ben. Auntie ‘Soka isn’t here right now, she’ll be so mad she missed you! That’s your cousins Zatt and Kip. The grumpy one is your Uncle Alpha, and the yellow one is your Uncle Cody, and Blondie is your Uncle Rex,” Skywalker listed. He’d been moving mostly from right to left, and blinked when his eyes met Piett.</p><p>“And I don’t know who you are,” he said slowly.</p><p>“I’m the midwife,” Piett deadpanned. Skywalker blinked, and looked at his wife.</p><p>“Picked it up from his mother, apparently,” Amidala confirmed.</p><p>“Apparently, this is Uncle Midwife,” Skywalker joked to his infant daughter.</p><p>“Lieutenant Firmus Piett, Axxilan Anti-Pirate Fleet,” he introduced himself belatedly. The group looked at him in various shades of exaggerated observance of their surroundings.</p><p>“I’m on his ship,” Piett said, “It’s not like he’ll get away.”</p><p>There was a commotion outside, in the main area. Piett suddenly registered that Ohnaka was no longer in the room. Neither were the children.</p><p>He rushed out, Skywalker behind him, only to see... Well, whatever he expected, it was not this.</p><p>Ohnaka, as well as three members of his crew, were trying to escape. Trying bring the operative word.</p><p>The children were preventing him.</p><p>They’d divided up into two groups of six, each group with one of Amidala’s biological children leading them; the biological children had lightsabers, and the rest had stunner blasters. They were engaging in pitched battle with the three pirates.</p><p>The pirates were losing. Piett blinked. The pirates were still losing when he opened his eyes.</p><p>The children executed a neat pincer formation, and managed to get Ohnaka and his crew caught between them. The children had an advantage; since they were still much shorter than the pirates, they could angle their blasts up so that they could operate on opposite sides of the pirate group, and any friendly fire simply went over their heads. The children with lightsabers blocked the stun blasts the pirates sent their way, while the ones with stunners volleyed fire at their enemy.</p><p>The pirates got caught with stunners; first the shortest crew member, then the other two, and finally Ohnaka. The children surveyed their victory with a vague sense of satisfaction.</p><p>Piett suppressed the his own sense of terror.</p><p>“Very... well-trained children you have, Knight Skywalker,” he said, for lack of anything else. Who let nine-year-olds carry deadly weapons?</p><p>Skywalker shrugged, then saw Piett’s fear.</p><p>“In the Jedi Order, children learn weapons early. Lightsabers are dangerous weapons when handled wrong, and take years of practice to get right, so we gave them training sabers to carry and practice with. Leia?” He asked his daughter.</p><p>The little girl extinguished her blade and handed it to her father. Skywalker reignited it, and swung it at his own hand. It glanced off with a hissing noise. There was barely a welt where it hit.</p><p>Piett relaxed.</p><p>“Better to make the mistakes early, with a saber that only stings,” Skywalker smiled wryly.</p><p>That... made a startling amount of sense.</p><p>“Same with the stunners,” Skywalker continued dryly, “Because have you tried explaining to a group of ten six year olds that their brother and sister get to carry a practice weapon and they can’t?”</p><p>Piett thought of his niece being told she couldn’t go to school like his slightly older nephew and grimaced.</p><p>“I can’t imagine it’s easy,” he admitted.</p><p>“Good intuition there, Lieutenant,” replied Skywalker. He nodded toward the pirates.</p><p>“Would you like to put them in your brig?” He asked, easily.</p><p>“Aren’t they your friends?” Asked Piett, confused.</p><p>“He took my wife hostage when she was pregnant,” Skywalker deadpanned back at him.</p><p>“Hostage?!” Said Piett. Skywalker blinked at him, and then realized something.</p><p>“Oh, don’t worry, it’s weird but normal. My older brother Obi-wan is a member of the ruling Council, he’s one of our leaders. Hondo is bound and determined to get a ransom for him, so he kidnapps our family members and tries to convince Kenobi to turn himself in in exchange. Then we come rescue them, and chase Hondo away. It’s almost like a game by this point.”</p><p>Piett blinked at him. Skywalker shrugged back. The pirates were starting to stir, so Piett cuffed them and called the martial officers from his crew to take them into custody.</p><p>Then he followed Skywalker back to the room to collect Hastings. Amidala had fallen asleep, and the rest of the adults were mostly talking to the children.</p><p>“Good job on your deflection,” said Kenobi, “You’ve been doing your exercises.”</p><p>One of the blue adult Clones was also, apparently, seizing a teachable moment.</p><p>“You got them,” he said gruffly, “Good. But remember that Weequays are weaker to stunners aimed at their head than to center mass.”</p><p>The little sharpshooters nodded their heads obediently.</p><p>“And remember to turn your blasters from stun to lightburst setting, now that the excitement’s over,” added the gold Clone.</p><p>Amidala was asleep, with the Nautolan boy holding the baby. He handed her to Skywalker as soon as he walked in. He began cooing over her, and over the rest of the children, immediately.</p><p>Well. No matter how oddly they were raised, at least they were loved.</p><p>He grabbed Hastings by the arm and made to hoist him up. Kenobi blinked at the downed man.</p><p>“What happened there?” He inquired curiously.</p><p>Piett wondered how best to word his answer.</p><p>“Medical Officer Hastings,” He said hesitantly, “Believed the children were fugitive Clones, and grew unreasonable when I refused to take them and their mother into custody.”</p><p>The adults froze, looking at him with wide eyes.</p><p>“I was forced to stun him,” Piett said quietly, “To prevent him harming the children.”</p><p>Skywalker spoke up, slowly.</p><p>“You delivered my daughter, and you protected my older children from being conscripted into the Republic Army at the age of nine,” he said slowly.</p><p>Piett nodded.</p><p>“Where I grew up on Tattooine,” said Skywalker slowly, “Even one of those acts would be grounds for admittance into a family.”</p><p>Ah. So that would be how Amidala knew what Tattooine was like.</p><p>“Congratulations,” said Kenobi dryly, “You’ve been adopted.”</p><p>Skywalker clapped Piett on the shoulder. Piett blinked.</p><p>“If you need anything,” Skywalker said, “And I do mean anything, ask.”</p><p>Then he took his children and started directing them to their ship, leaving Piett on an empty pirate ship with an unconscious medic.</p><p>It was the first time he met the Skywalkers. It would not be the last.</p><p>After a while, he even got used to it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I will be the first to admit my characterization of Piett is inspired greatly by Empire Reimagined and the other works of WishfulThinking1949, and Welcome to the Club and the other works of Malicean. Go check them out!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Tell Me a Story</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wolffe has a Buir, and he loves his Buir, but he also has an Alpha.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was inspired almost entirely by the throwaway line from In the Garden of Four Rivers where Fox mentioned that Wolffe’s Alpha told him stories.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wolffe stood in front of the door nervously. It wasn’t really a door at all, just a tent, but that didn’t make him less nervous.</p><p>He checked his armor again, for the tenth time in the last twenty minutes, and tried to wipe away a grain of dust on his spaulder. He checked for the holo on his comm, and that his hair was presentable.</p><p>And now he was out of ways to stall. </p><p>He knocked on one of the tent posts, quietly, but was still surprised to hear a “Come in!” from inside. He ducked in, still quiet and subdued, and found Alpha-42 sitting at a small collapsible table eating rations.</p><p>“Sorry, didn’t realize you were eating,” he said quickly, and made to back out. Alpha waved his hand in dismissal, and put down his eating utensil.</p><p>“It’s not like you’re interrupting anything actually interesting,” he said, grumpily. He picked up his utensil again, and poked the disturbingly wiggly mass in front of him.</p><p>“You think we can reuse it as ballistics gel?” He asked, lightening his tone a bit. He still sounded mad, but, well, Alpha sounded mad all the time.</p><p>He was trying to make Wolffe laugh. Maybe Wolffe hadn’t messed up too badly after all.</p><p>“So why are you visiting me on this fine, culinarily adventurous evening?” Alpha asked finally, after watching Wolffe carefully for a couple beats. Wolffe jerked in surprise.</p><p>“I... just wanted to tell you that you’re a ba’buir,” he mumbled. Alpha blinked at him.</p><p>“I didn’t know I was a buir,” he said flatly.</p><p>Wolffe nodded, and turned to go. He knew a rejection when he heard one. He jumped, again, when Alpha’s hand reached for him, suddenly.</p><p>“No!” Alpha barked, and Wolffe nearly jumped out if his skin.</p><p>“How am I a Buir?” Alpha forced out evenly. There was an odd light in his eyes. It didn’t look like disappointment.</p><p>“Well, you raised me,” Wolffe mumbled again. Alpha blinked.</p><p>“I’m your Buir?” He said, gentler than he’d spoken to Wolffe for years. Wolffe had missed that tone; but he was too caught up in the words.</p><p>He didn’t know?</p><p>“Yessir,” Wolffe mumbled. Alpha reached his hand out again, more gently.</p><p>“Are you sure? You already have one,” he said.</p><p>“Most people have two,” Wolffe muttered. Alpha’s hand settled on Wolffe’s face, like they had done when Wolffe was a Cadet.</p><p>Wolffe leaned into the touch. It’d been so long since Alpha had showed affection like that.</p><p>He’d stopped when Fett had started training them, when Wolffe had come home with a new name and Kaminoan blood on his teeth. Wolffe had always wondered what he did wrong.</p><p>“I thought you didn’t need me anymore,” Alpha murmured, “You had Fett, and then that General of yours.”</p><p>“Fett named me, but he always kept his fingers well out of reach,” Wolffe snorted, “And I love my Buir, but that doesn’t mean I go around disowning everyone else.”</p><p>Alpha smiled, a small one, and ran his thumb over the scar on Wolffe’s eye.</p><p>“How’d you get this?” He asked, not unkindly.</p><p>“Don’t you know?” Wolffe returned.</p><p>“They never told us anything, at Kamino. I thought you were dead I heard the Malevolence had wiped out the Wolffepack; it wasn’t until Seventeen talked to Cody that we knew you weren’t.”</p><p>Alpha’s tone had grown harder again. It was hard to tell if it was a warning sign.</p><p>“How come I could never talk to you?” Wolffe couldn’t stop himself from asking.</p><p>“Seventeen, the lucky barve, was off Kamino and served as a Commander for a while,” explained Alpha, somewhat flippantly, “And he managed to smuggle his communicator in when he was reassigned.”</p><p>It sounded like something someone from that bunch would do, all right. Kenobi, Skywalker, and their Vode were troublemakers, and surrounded themselves with troublemakers.</p><p>“I got it from a Sith,” Wolffe admitted, “Ventress.”</p><p>Alpha’s hand froze.</p><p>“You went up against Ventress?” He growled, angry again.</p><p>Wolffe put work into not flinching back. Alpha wasn’t angry at him.</p><p>He nodded, for lack of words.</p><p>“You survived,” Alpha muttered, “That’s what’s important.”</p><p>“I didn’t fail,” Wolffe nodded. Alpha’s hand clenched on his face, almost reflexively.</p><p>“You survived,” the older man corrected, “Succeeded, failed, doesn’t matter.”</p><p>“It doesn’t?” Wolffe blinked. That was something he’d never heard Alpha articulate before. He’d always been so obsessed with success in Kamino, whether or not his Cadets passed each course and training exercise or not.</p><p>“Succeeding can lead to survival,” Alpha explained flatly, “That’s why it’s important. But if you can survive failure, failure becomes an option.”</p><p>Wolffe blinked again. That painted a lot of his experiences during childhood in a much different light.</p><p>“I didn’t fail you?” He said, hopefully.</p><p>“No you did not!” Alpha growled, moving his hand from Wolffe’s face to his shoulder, “Where did you get that idea?”</p><p>“You stopped talking to me,” Wolffe shrugged.</p><p>Alpha’s face grew slack. Wolffe had never seen him that surprised.</p><p>“You wanted me to talk to you?” He said, still flatly.</p><p>Wolffe blinked at him.</p><p>“Of course I want to talk to you, Alpha!” He insisted, “You’re my Buir!”</p><p>Was Alpha crying? His eyes were definitely wet.</p><p>“Oh,” Alpha whispered, and he looked down for a moment. He looked up, into Wolffe’s eyes, after a beat, and took a breath.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said, obviously trying to be genuine, “I didn’t know.”</p><p>Wolffe hugged him. He froze, but hugged back gingerly. Like Wolffe was something breakable.</p><p>Something precious.</p><p>“I’m sorry I left,” Wolffe said, “I thought you did know.”</p><p>“Would you still like to talk to me?” Alpha said, as close to hesitant as he ever got. He let go of Wolffe, but gently put his hand on Wolffe’s face again.</p><p>“Of course!”</p><p>“You said I was a ba’buir?” Alpha prompted.</p><p>Wolffe felt a smile stretch his face.</p><p>“His name is Akela.”</p><p>...</p><p>Akela looked up at the grumpy-looking Clone in front of him. He was even scarier than Buir!</p><p>Not that Buir was scary, but he frowned a lot, and sometimes he snarled at people. It was really funny to see people jump when he did that.</p><p>“Akela,” Buir said, “This is Alpha-42, my other Buir.”</p><p>You could have two Buire (1)? He hadn’t known that.</p><p>“Does that make him my Ba’buir too?” Akela asked. Buir nodded.</p><p>Akela beamed, and made to hug his new Ba’buir’s legs. Ba’buir jumped.</p><p>“And he hasn’t been around Littles since I was a Little,” Buir said quickly, “So you have to go slow.”</p><p>Oh, okay. He was like some of the other older Vode, who didn’t know what to do with kids.</p><p>Akela backed up, and stuck his hand out to say hello.</p><p>“I’m Akela!” He said, “Pleased to meet you!”</p><p>The Alpha shook his hand, gently.</p><p>“Nice to meet you too, kid,” he said, low and gravelly like Buir got sometimes.</p><p>“Now can I hug you?” Asked Akela. He had been very patient, waiting until he was introduced and everything.</p><p>Alpha nodded, hesitantly. Akela immediately latched on to his leg.</p><p>Alpha blinked down at him, and patted his head.</p><p>“Does he do this often?” He muttered to Buir.</p><p>“Only if you’re not used to it, Alpha,” Buir replied.</p><p>“Why do you call him Alpha?” Asked Akela, “And not Buir?”</p><p>Buir stopped and blinked.</p><p>“Alpha is like Buir, for CCs,” he said, “Like Kat-ba’vodu (2) calls your Ba’Buir Master, but it really means Buir too.”</p><p>“Oh,” said Akela, wisely, “Does this mean I should call him Ba’Alpha? I already have a Ba’buir, and I don’t want people to get confused.”</p><p>“Sure,” Buir shrugged, but then he seemed to notice Ba’Alpha’s funny face.</p><p>“Anything wrong, Alpha?” Buir said, softly. He picked Akela up and settled him in his arms.</p><p>Akela loved it when Buir picked him up. It was like when a caretaker picked him up, but so much better, because it was his Buir.</p><p>“You said Alpha was like Buir,” said Ba’Alpha in a funny tone of voice, “The words, I mean.”</p><p>“Yes,” Buir making his voice slow like he wasn’t sure what Ba’Alpha was trying to say.</p><p>“I thought Alpha meant trainer, taskmaster, drill sergeant,” Ba’Alpha’s voice sounded like he was looking for something.</p><p>“Only when they could see,” Buir said back.</p><p>They must be talking about when Buir was a Little. Buir had said that he didn’t have a very nice time growing up, and that the Kaminoans were mean to him and his brothers.</p><p>Did the Kaminoans make Ba’Alpha be mean to Buir too? Drill sergeants were mean to his brothers, back when he was on Kamino. He faintly remembered them, dressed up in colorful armor that they insisted was better than the white armor they gave his brothers.</p><p>The memories were fading already. Akela tried so hard to remember them that he almost missed what Buir said.</p><p>“Trainers don’t brush their men’s hair. Traskmasters don’t help their men put on arm braces if they need help. Drill sergeants don’t tell their men stories,” Buir said quietly.</p><p>Ba’Alpha stared for a second.</p><p>“You remember those?” He whispered, “I stopped telling them when you were six.”</p><p>“‘Course,” Buir replied gruffly, “They were the best.”</p><p>Ba’Alpha shook his head  </p><p>“I was trying to teach you tactics,” he argued, “And strategy. They weren’t good, really, at all.”</p><p>”You didn’t read us a tactics manual,” Buir argued gently, “You told us about the adventures of ‘42, the Little Commando.” </p><p>“You tell stories?” Akela couldn’t stop himself from asking. Ba’Alpha looked down with wide eyes.</p><p>“Yes,” He said hesitantly, “I did.”</p><p>“Can you tell me a story?” Akela asked.</p><p>Ba’Alpha looked hesitant.</p><p>“I don’t know,” he said, “It’s been a long time since I told a story.”</p><p>“Did you forget how?” Akela poked Ba’Alpha on the knee, “Maybe I can help you remember!”</p><p>“It’s not that,” Ba’Alpha replied, “But they weren’t very good stories. I didn’t know what a good story was, then.”</p><p>“Well, you know what one is now,” Akela pointed out.</p><p>“I don’t think you’re getting out of this one, Alpha,” Buir said, smiling. Ba’Alpha nodded at him, and sat down on the floor. Buir And Akela sat down too, across from him.</p><p>After a second, Ba’Alpha reached for Akela’s hand, and held it gently. He did the same thing for Buir.</p><p>“Alright, Akela, you asked for a good story,” Ba’Alpha said, “And here’s the best one I can think of. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mandalorian: parents, the plural form<br/>2. Mandalorian: Aunt/Uncle Kat. In this case, Kat is short for Katooni (Katooni-ba’vodu is more of a mouthful than I would want to say at six), so Aunt Katooni.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Jango’s Apology Tour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jango owes a lot of apologies, and one apology that he received.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I can honestly say that I wasn’t expecting Jango to be so popular. I, like many writers, keep track of chapter popularity by reviews, and the two chapter with the highest amount of reviews are How Cody Got His Name(s) and The Hunter and the Hunted, which both have Jango featuring prominently.<br/>I don’t know what that says about my writing style.<br/>He’ll probably show up now and again in the future; he’s a compelling character to write, but I’m running out of major plot lines for him.<br/>This is a longer one; I contemplated splitting it up somehow, but it just flows better as once piece.<br/>EDIT: Just watched the new Episode of the Mandalorian. I’m not sure if what was mentioned there confirms my cobbling together of canon or completely blows it out of the water. I would like to let you know I write this completely before the episode came out.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Colt noticed the difference in Jango almost immediately, as the man ran to hug Boba. He was thin, almost emaciated, and seemed smaller in a way that had nothing to do with physical mass. But he smiled when he hugged Boba, and touched his son’s face like Boba was the most precious thing in the Galaxy.</p><p>No wonder Boba loved Jango so much.</p><p>Another surprise came when Boba began to cry. Colt knew he was with his dad, that Jango would comfort him, but it just seemed wrong to let his little brother cry in front of him and do nothing. He stroked Boba’s back, gently, as Jango held him and hushed him equally gently.</p><p>The surprising part was Jango taking a moment from speaking to his son, and talking directly to Colt.</p><p>“Thank you for taking care of him,” he said, like he thought Colt was a person. He’d never talked to any of the CCs like that before, not even Cody or Wolffe.</p><p>Colt kept himself from staring. It was rude. But he did look at Jango in surprise, and saw the man hunch into himself slightly when he noticed.</p><p>Kenobi and Skywalker left Jango in his custody, and returned to their ship to run post-mission checks. Colt was left with a crying teen and a remorseful man who he used to hate.</p><p>When Boba had cried himself out, he stepped back very slightly from Jango and looked him in the face again.</p><p>“Where’ve you been, Dad?” He asked, still a little wobbly.</p><p>“I was stranded on a Trandoshan hunting moon, trying to hide from the hunters,” Jango said, “Tyrranus sold me there, after Geonosis. I’m sorry I left.”</p><p>“You didn’t leave on purpose,” Boba sniffled, trying to burrow into Jango’s shoulder again.</p><p>Jango turned to Colt.</p><p>“Is there anything I can call you?” He asked. Another surprise.</p><p>“Colt,” He said, “When did you figure out we were people?”</p><p>Jango’s shoulder’s hunched further down.</p><p>“There were six Clones on the moon with me,” he said quietly, “I caught them crying over dead brothers when they thought I couldn’t see. Droids don’t do that.”</p><p>No, they didn’t.</p><p>“I’ll take you to my Buir, for now,” Colt said, “And I’m told you’re in custody awaiting trial, so we’ll figure something out.”</p><p>“Trial?” Asked Boba, still next to Jango, holding his father’s arm like he was afraid Jango would disappear if he let go.</p><p>Jango sighed, and closed his eyes. He gently guided Boba in front of him, and held his son’s shoulders.</p><p>“I’ve done awful things, Boba, to Colt and his brothers,” he said gravely, “And I owe them more than I can ever repay. I’ve turned myself over for punishment; it’s the only thing I can do that would be right.”</p><p>Boba’s eyes widened.</p><p>“But they can’t take you away,” he said, “You’re my Dad.”</p><p>Jango sighed, again, and hunched in more.</p><p>“I used to only belong to you, Boba,” he said, “Because as your parent, I owe you time and love and teaching. But now I know that I owe every Clone a debt; more than I can ever repay. I belong to them too. A man repays his debts.”</p><p>Boba looked at Jango with a conflicted expression.</p><p>Cold sighed, and watched Boba sadly. Jango followed his gaze, and sighed.</p><p>“We had better get to where I am to live,” he prodded, gently.</p><p>...</p><p>Wolffe had been talking to Master Ti when they walked in. He’d come over to discuss parenting, specifically how to help Akela with his eye. Buir had tagged along because he wanted to catch up with his fellow Jedi Master.</p><p>They weren’t expecting Jango Fett to walk in. Shaak Ti walked over gracefully, nodded to Colt, and quick as a snake punched Jango in the jaw.</p><p>“For my sons,” she hissed. Jango stared at her.</p><p>“Nice shot,” murmured Buir.</p><p>Wolffe just stared. He’d never seen Master Ti fight; she seemed imperturbable. Now he knew he didn’t ever want to be on her bad side.</p><p>“Buir!” Protested Colt, “Now Fox will grouse at us for abuse of power over a prisoner.”</p><p>“Fox is always unhappy,” Wolffe waved his complaint away, “Might as well be about this and not that our bootlaces aren’t regulation or something. Master Ti, could you do that again? I want to video it.”</p><p>Master Ti gave him a flat look. Oh well. It was worth a shot.</p><p>Jango was visibly wary, but made no move to defend himself or step away. Colt pushed him forward, and he went without complained. Boba was attached to his side like a limpet.</p><p>The tension was broken by his son running in, almost running into Jango in his haste.</p><p>“On your left, Akela,” Wolffe called, and his son automatically zigged to the right without slowing down.</p><p>“Buir!” He nearly yelled, “Kat-ba’vodu helped me make an eye patch!”</p><p>Wolffe held out his hand to catch the little daredevil before he could plow into Buir, or Master Ti. Akela didn’t seem to register the catch, thrusting his hand up to Wolffe so he could inspect the contents.</p><p>It was an eyepatch, but it wasn’t made of fabric. It was an old armor piece, probably the back of a gauntlet, but filed into a smooth oval. The back was padded with pieces of an older eyepatch, and a braided string was to stretch around the head. He flipped it over, to look at the front, and smiled.</p><p>Katooni was quite the artist; one needed only to look at her beloved nexu chestplate to see that. On the front of the patch, painted onto the armor piece in Wolfpack grey, was the wolf design that adorned his right spaulder. </p><p>“Have you tried it on yet?” He asked Akela, who was practically bouncing in front of him. The eyepatch making session had probably also included sugar.</p><p>His son shook his head.</p><p>“I wanted you to see it, Buir!” He exclaimed. Wolffe could feel his own Buir forcibly muffling an expression of cuteness at the sight.</p><p>He slipped the eyepatch gently over Akela’s head, settling it in his eye socket, and then stepped back.</p><p>“Perfect,” He said, and then grinned evilly at Katooni. She fed him sugar, she could deal with the hyper six-year-old.</p><p>“Why don’t you go with Kat-ba’vodu to find a mirror?” He suggested innocently, gently turning Akela to the door. Akela needed no more encouragement; he was off like a shot, Katooni running behind him, barely keeping up.</p><p>“How much sugar has that boy had?” Buir murmured.</p><p>“It won’t be my problem for another few hours,” Wolffe said, “And Katooni can get a lesson in reaping what you sow and some endurance training too.”</p><p>“I’m sure I didn’t teach you to be so devious,” Buir said.</p><p>Wolffe grinned at him.</p><p>“You definitely did, Buir,” he reassured.</p><p>“I’m sorry, what just happened?” Said Jango quietly.</p><p>“Akela is my son. He’s blind in one eye, but until about five minutes ago, absolutely refused to wear a patch,” Wolffe smiled, “So Katooni, Buir’s Padawan,” he indicated Buir, “And my little sister, made him one. And fed him sugar. So I sent them on a run to try to burn it off.”</p><p>Boba snickered. Jango nodded, slowly, and Wolffe could see the guilt in his eyes.</p><p>“You might want to make sure they climb some stairs,” he offered, “That was what worked best for Boba.”</p><p>Boba stopped snickering.</p><p>“You’re being quite nice,” Wolffe said bluntly, “To droids and Jedi.”</p><p>Jango’s shoulder’s hunched.</p><p>“I am to stand trial, as soon as you can,” he said quietly, “I was wrong, and I harmed you and your brothers irreparably, and for that I am sorry.”</p><p>Wolffe blinked at him, and tilted his head in thought.</p><p>“It’s a nice apology,” he said, “And you mean what you say, I can tell that. So I won’t kill you here, for what you did to my brothers and my Alpha. But I won’t forgive you. I don’t think I ever will.”</p><p>“I didn’t ask you to,” Jango said quietly.</p><p>Wolffe looked at him for a few more seconds.</p><p>“My name is still pronounced Wolf,” he said flatly, “I just spell it differently now.”</p><p>Jango blinked at him in surprise. Wolffe didn’t stick around to see what he would say next.</p><p>Maybe he could find Akela and hug him. That sounded nice.</p><p>...</p><p>Boba stuck by his Dad’s side when they walked to his quarters. He hadn’t realized that Wolffe from the Wolfpack was the same Wolf his Dad used to talk about, the one he also called Bitey.</p><p>It was probably a good thing that Dad hadn’t named Wolffe Bitey.</p><p>Colt walked them to the brig, and let Boba accompany his Dad in. As the door closed behind them, Boba hugged his Dad again.</p><p>“Boba, you don’t have to stay here,” Dad said quietly.</p><p>“You’re here,” Boba pointed out. Dad sighed, and knelt in front of Boba.</p><p>“Boba,” he said carefully, like when he explained why the old Kaminoan that watched Boba sometimes couldn’t watch him anymore. He had died.</p><p>“I am a known... child abuser, Boba,” he said quietly, “I should be killed. I probably will be, once they give me a trial. You don’t have to be around me if you don’t want to be. I’m not sure you should want to be.”</p><p>“I’ve talked to the Clones, Dad, I know what you did,” said Boba. Dad flinched.</p><p>“But you’re my Dad, and you didn’t think they were people. And you’re trying to make it right, now,” Boba continued, “And you love me, I can tell. Do you know how long I spent thinking that no one loved me anymore?”</p><p>Dad’s eyes widened.</p><p>“What happened, Boba?” He asked, carefully. </p><p>“I was alone, after you were kidnapped. I thought you were dead,” Boba said flatly. Dad flinched again.</p><p>“I ran with Aurra Sing for a while, trying to get revenge on Mace Windu. Blew up a Republic Cruiser, got captured and imprisoned in Republic Supermax,” Boba told his Dad, not liking the expression on the man’s face, “Bossk watched out for me, and helped me escape.</p><p>“We split up, after, and I took some bounty hunting jobs with the Slave. Early this year, the Jedi paid me an exorbitant sum to use my DNA to make a cure for the accelerated aging of the Clones. Colt adopted me while I was here, and I never left.”</p><p>Dad was looking at a Boba in horror.</p><p>“Kal was supposed to take you in,” He whispered, “You weren’t ever supposed to be alone, even if I was dead.”</p><p>“I never went back to Kamino,” Boba shrugged, “The Republic was mobilizing for war. He probably thought I was dead too.”</p><p>Dad still looked at Boba in horror, and then reached out and hugged him to his chest. Boba relaxed into the hug. This was one of the things he’d missed most, when Dad has been dead.</p><p>But he felt Dad tense, like he was steeling himself for something.</p><p>“You should go back to him,” Dad said finally, and loosened his grip, “Your Dad.”</p><p>“I’m right in front of him,” Boba said, and let himself smile, “If I was any closer, I’d be sitting on his shoulders.”</p><p>Dad took a deep breath. It shuddered a little.</p><p>“No, your other dad,” he said, “Colt.”</p><p>“Colt’s not my Dad, he’s my Ori’vod,” Boba said, “You’re my only Buir.”</p><p>He felt his Dad freeze, minutely, as he said the Mando’a word. Boba had wanted to share that with his Dad ever since Dad came back, but it seemed like Dad was almost scared of it.</p><p>“Who taught you that?” Dad asked quietly, “Those words?”</p><p>“Cody. Colt. Kenobi. A little bit of everybody, really,” Boba replied, “Why didn’t you, Dad?”</p><p>Dad gently wrapped one arm around Boba, and pulled him into his side.</p><p>“I’m the last of the True Mandalorians,” He said, “My... Dad died, and left me to lead them, and I led them right into a trap, and got them all killed. I destroyed my Buir’s- my Dad’s legacy. I don’t deserve to speak it, and I don’t want you to have that burden. It’s lonely, being the last one.”</p><p>“Galidraan?” Boba asked, quietly. He remembered the shame in Kenobi’s eyes when he had spoken of the battle.</p><p>“They told you of it,” Dad said tiredly.</p><p>“Kenobi did,” Boba nodded, “He said it was the greatest shame on the Order in living memory.”</p><p>“They regret it?” Dad sneered, “How comforting.”</p><p>“They were given bad intel,” Boba said, “And the Master that led the raid Fell, later, so maybe he was already Falling.”</p><p>“Fall? Off of what? What does that have to do with it?” Dad asked, sneering still, but confused.</p><p>Boba thought for a moment, trying to find the right words.</p><p>“He became a Dar’jetii,” he said slowly, “He went insane, and tried to kill his family.”</p><p>Dad clutched Boba tighter.</p><p>“But he’s dead now,” Boba continued, “And everyone here looks out for each other, to try and watch for it.”</p><p>“He’s dead?” Dad asked. Boba nodded.</p><p>“Skywalker killed him,” he mentioned. Dad’s shoulders slumped again.</p><p>“I keep finding that I owe more debts to people,” he said, with dark humor.</p><p>“There’s more to life than debts, Dad,” Boba said, leaning against his Dad again.</p><p>They didn’t say much after that, Boba just leaned against his Dad like he had wanted to for so long, and Dad kept his arm around Boba and held him close.</p><p>...</p><p>Han fiddled with his vambraces in front of the door. Lando, next to him, was doing a much better job pretending not to be nervous, but he couldn’t fool Han.</p><p>Boba’s dad was back. Colt had come to find them, and sat them down and explained that Jango Fett had been found alive, and that he had turned himself in to stand trial for what he had done, and that Boba might need friends at the moment.</p><p>Neither of them were sure if he was right, if Boba would want them at all now that he had his dad, but Colt generally had an easier time interpreting Boba than they did, so they decided to give it a try.</p><p>Han reached out to knock at the door, waiting until he heard a voice telling him to come in to nod to the trooper standing guard to open up.</p><p>He and Lando poked their heads in nervously, only to see Boba curled up against an older man, nestled under his arm. That must be his dad.</p><p>He didn’t look like a monster, Han thought, just like one of the beggars on the street corners on Corellia; thin, and diminished, and regretful. But, well, some of those beggars were monsters too, ones you never ever stayed around at night.</p><p>“Han, Lando,” Boba greeted, not moving from under his dad’s arm. The man didn’t make a move, either, probably noticing how wary they were.</p><p>“How ya doin’?” Asked Han, trying to project that he didn’t have a care in the world. Lando snorted next to him.</p><p>“Don’t mind him, he left half his brain and all his manners behind the last time he jumped to hyperspace,” he said smoothly. The barve.</p><p>“I’m Lando Calrissian,” Lando continued, in his best suave tone, “And the flyboy here is Han Solo.”</p><p>“You’re not trying to get him to lose to you in Sabaac, Lando,” Han said sarcastically, “Remember to save some of your charm for the next time you get caught with a card rig under your sleeve.”</p><p>Lando gave him an offended look. Boba gave a small laugh. Han counted it as a win.</p><p>“I have long since moved on from card rigs,” Lando said haughtily, “They don’t fit under vambraces.”</p><p>They didn’t. And, well, Colt had taken them each aside and had a conversation with them about how closely they wanted to follow the traditions of the rest of their brothers; if they wanted armor at all, and how much, if they did.</p><p>Han wanted to try and follow the Clones. He, Lando, and Boba ran exercises as a squad, and were earning their armor, piece by piece. Han and Boba had earned vambraces, spaulders, greaves, and breastplates. Lando, having arrived later, had only earned vambraces and greaves yet.</p><p>Jango’s eyes drifted to Lando’s vambraces, and then to Han’s, finally Boba’s. They had each painted their right ‘brace with an Idiot’s Array, the one that Han had played against the crime boss when they first met Lando.</p><p>“You’re brothers,” he said, quietly.</p><p>Han and Lando shot a startled look at each other, but Boba just nodded.</p><p>“We’re Array Squad,” He said, “Two because that’s how we started out, Three because that’s how many we are now, and Han’s the Idiot.”</p><p>“Hey!” Han objected. That was just uncalled for!</p><p>Jango started to smile, small, and sad. But a smile.</p><p>“How’d you meet?” He asked no one in particular, but Boba took the initiative to answer.</p><p>“Colt And Shaak Ti didn’t park in the greatest part of town when they came to hire me for the gene fix,” he said, “And we found Han stripping it down to the airframe. Lando we won in a game of Sabaac.”</p><p>Now it was Lando’s turn to object, but Han only sniggered.</p><p>“Sit down,” Jango offered, nodding to the bench in the brig, “And tell me the whole story.”</p><p>His smile turned wry.</p><p>“And then I may have a few stories for you as well,” he finished.</p><p>Han looked at Lando, and they nodded thoughtfully. They sat, and Han started the story.</p><p>“It probably began when we had to steal the Slave from Boss Dras’s chop shop...” Han said thoughtfully, “And Colt had to break Boba and I apart for the fifth time in the fifteen minutes since we met.”</p><p>...</p><p>Alpha-17 took a deep breath in front of the door, and squared his shoulders one more time.</p><p>He’d promised himself he’d never have to do this again, but now he found himself wanting to, wanting to see just how much the man behind this door knew, if his regrets were as real as he said.</p><p>So he blanked his face, and straightened his spine, and shut down his eyes, until all anyone would see when they saw him was a flesh droid. And then he walked into the cell.</p><p>“Jango Fett,” he greeted evenly, in the unnaturally flat voice he’d created for himself. Fett looked up from the datapad he was reading, and stood up when he saw Alpha.</p><p>“Alpha,” He said, and then paused uncertainly, “Seventeen, right?”</p><p>Alpha nodded, mechanically, and stepped in front of Fett.</p><p>“Information needed,” He droned, watching Fett carefully.</p><p>Fett nodded, confusion written on his face.</p><p>“Were you always this way,” Alpha droned, and then abruptly changed his tone to a furious snarl, “You vod’kyramund hut’uun (1)?!”</p><p>Jango jerked in surprise, but didn’t make any other moves as Alpha fisted his hand in the Prime’s shirt.</p><p>“Do you even know what you did?” Alpha yelled, sorely tempted to knock Jango against the wall. He resisted; Kenobi would give him the disappointed face, and Cody would just pretend that such a thing didn’t hurt him. Cody still loved Jango, a little bit.</p><p>“I had to hurt my sons! I had to tell them they couldn’t be people in public! I had to watch them grow up to be droids and do nothing!” Alpha shouted.</p><p>“And you, you kriffer,” he poked Jango in the chest, ignoring how satisfying it was to see the man’s flinch, “You ran them through their paces and gave them their bruises and then went home to your son and hugged him while I was trying to bandage my son’s cuts and telling them not to cry!”</p><p>Alpha was having a hard time not crying himself, by now. He had known he would; this was bringing up bad memories, and there was a reason he chose not to dwell on the past.</p><p>“I couldn’t even give them names!” he yelled, “And I had to watch you walk around with a son that had two names! Two! I wanted so badly to give mine even one!”</p><p>Jango was watching him in horror. Had he not realized?</p><p>“Oh, Manda,” Fett whispered, “You’re a Buir.”</p><p>“Did you think I was perhaps a nanny?” Alpha snarked, but he let go of the other man’s shirt to wipe his eyes.</p><p>“You’re a person,” Fett said faintly, “And you take care of kids, of course you’re a Buir. Why didn’t I see?”</p><p>Well. At least Fett seemed to be genuine in his regret.</p><p>“All I wanted to know,” Alpha said tiredly, “Is what convinced you. What did those little idiots from that moon of yours do to convince you that they were people, that my brothers and sons didn’t.”</p><p>“They cried for their brothers,” Fett said gently, “When they thought I couldn’t see. Droids don’t do that.”</p><p>No. They didn’t. And Alpha and his brothers had made sure the CCs never did either.</p><p>“I won’t fight, if you use that knife,” Fett offered, nodding at Alpha’s utility belt.</p><p>Alpha stared blankly for a moment, until he realized what Fett was offering.</p><p>“No,” he growled, “Trial.”</p><p>Fett nodded, silently.</p><p>Alpha turned to leave, but paused before he got to the door.</p><p>“Cherish that kid of yours,” he said threateningly, “However you can. Give him all the things I could never give mine.”</p><p>And then he left. He wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse after that talk, but he knew it was something he had needed to do.</p><p>Now all he wanted to do is find Cody and talk with his son for a while.</p><p>...</p><p>Jump knocked on Proto’s door, looking worriedly at Brick next to him. It had been a few days since Proto- Jango- had turned himself in to the Jedi, and they were waiting two tendays to give him a trial, to try and find a way to give an impartial trial on a planet where everyone had been personally wronged by the man.</p><p>Proto called for them to come in, and looked a bit surprised when he saw them.</p><p>“Brick, Jump,” he acknowledged, confusedly.</p><p>“Hello, Proto!” Jump replied cheerily, dragging his brother in behind them.</p><p>“Jango,” The man said, “My name was Jango, before I lost the right to it.”</p><p>“Proto’s a nickname,” Brick nodded, “But that’s not why we’re visiting!”</p><p>“We got our chips out, and our aging is fixed!” Jump cut back in cheerfully.</p><p>“Your chips?” Proto asked, leaning forward.</p><p>“Our control chips,” Brick nodded.</p><p>“I thought you didn’t have any, that they lied,” Proto objected, “You’re obviously people, not droids.”</p><p>“Yeah, the chip was dormant,” Jump said, “It would have been activated when the order was given, not before.”</p><p>Proto was looking at them in horror.</p><p>“So they made you a person, and they put something in your heads to take that away?” He whispered.</p><p>“That one’s not on you Proto, you were lied to about us,” Brick said. He opened Proto’s clenched hand, and gently placed a small wrapped package in it.</p><p>“What is this?” Proto asked, gently unwrapping the package to reveal a computer chip.</p><p>“It’s the chip, we keep them so we know we’re free,” Brick explained. He gently traced his chip-scar, and Proto’s eyes followed the movement, and then flickered down to the silicon wafer in his hand. He turned it over, inspecting it closely, and then wrapped it back up in the plastoid wrap that Brick kept it in, and handed it back.</p><p>Proto turned to Jump, next, eyes fixed on the side of his head. Was he looking for Jump’s scar too? It would be hard to find; Brick liked his hair buzzed short, but Jump liked to keep his in a longer cut, more similar to a Cadet style.</p><p>“If you’re looking for a scar in that mop of his,” Brick said, grinning at Jump, “He has one too, don’t worry.”</p><p>Jump sat down, at Proto’s side, and took his hand gently. He guided it to the place that was still a little tender from the surgery, and let Proto feel the raised ridge.</p><p>Some of the remaining tension in Proto’ shoulders eased.</p><p>“And the rest?” He asked, “Redsun, Destrier, Mince, Loco?”</p><p>“They’re all free too,” Jump reassured, “Don’t worry. They just had a harder time escaping their squads to come visit.”</p><p>Proto smiled, sadly.</p><p>“And you don’t have a squad left to detain you,” he guessed.</p><p>“We have Yukino and Trig,” Brick shrugged, “They don’t have a squad, either, really.”</p><p>“But they do have a bunch of meetings to go to,” Jump let himself grin mischievously.</p><p>“And, well, they may think we are still at the medical facility doing the aging treatment,” Brick admitted, “But the last treatment only takes an hour, not three.”</p><p>“Aging treatment?” Asked Proto, curiosity, “You mentioned that when you barged in?”</p><p>“Yeah!” Said Brick, “They take genetic material from Prime’s- your- son, and splice it onto your DNA so you age like a normal human!”</p><p>“Its really weird to think of you having a son,” Jump admitted.</p><p>Proto was looking at them in awe.</p><p>“You’ll live the time you’re supposed to?” He questioned softly. He startled, a little bit, when Jump hugged him, but settled quickly and didn’t jump when Brick joined the pile.</p><p>“Don’t touch me,” He murmured, more out of habit than anything, “I’m Demagolka.”</p><p>“It’s not like it’s contagious,” Brick pointed out.</p><p>“I’m unclean,” Proto replied, “I told you this.”</p><p>“Then we’ll take a sonic,” Brick shrugged. Proto sighed, accepting defeat somewhat gracefully.</p><p>After a little while, he even started to hug back. Progress!</p><p>...</p><p>Kix walked in to the small room with a disdainful sniff, sat on the bench for visitors, and pulled out a datapad.</p><p>“I have questions for you,” he said, direct and no-nonsense. Fett just blinked at him.</p><p>“Do I know you?” He asked, “I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you.”</p><p>“No, you do not know me. I’m the medics for the 501st, Kix, and that’s all you need to know,” Kix said, “And now you will answer my questions.”</p><p>“Okay?” Fett asked more than said.</p><p>“Firstly, your parents. Did they have any sicknesses that you were aware of?” Kix started. Fett shook his head confusedly.</p><p>“My sister was healthy too,” he offered, “And I’m fine.”</p><p>Kid pointed the stylus from his datapad at him.</p><p>“You are suffering from malnutrition, emaciation, and long-term exposure to trace amounts of poisonous gas from that moon,” he said, “But as those are not genetic illnesses, I will accept your assessment of your family’s health at face value.”</p><p>“Poisonous gas?” Fett asked concern, “What about the others? The troopers? Are they okay?”</p><p>“They weren’t there as long as you were,” Kix muttered, writing notes and ignoring how odd it was that Fett was concerned for a Clone, “They’ll be fine. So will you; your lungs were only just starting to shred once we got to you, so we’ve been putting bacta in your food.”</p><p>“I thought it tasted off,” muttered Fett.</p><p>“No, that’s just how rations taste,” Kix said dryly, “But I’m glad you’ve been eating. Next question, grandparents: any health problems, and what species were they?”</p><p>“Um,” said Fett, “I’m not really sure.”</p><p>Kix gave him a flat look.</p><p>“They were all dead by the time I was six,” Fett admitted, “I’m not even sure they were my biological grandparents, Mandalorians adopt people. What do you want from me?”</p><p>“I want to figure out what the kark is up with my brothers,” Kix said flatly.</p><p>Fett looked at him, worried. Why was Fett worried about the Clones?</p><p>“What’s wrong?” He asked, “Are you okay?”</p><p>“More than okay,” Kix said flatly, “It’s just they can match the physical feats of human Jedi, and many of them are starting to adapt to the abilities of nonhuman Jedi as well.”</p><p>Fett blinked.</p><p>“Isn’t that a good thing?” He asked, hesitantly.</p><p>“It shouldn’t be biologically possible!” Kix countered, and pulled up a holo.</p><p>“This is 332nd Company. They call themselves the Wild Hunt. They’ve taken to running with a Togruta Jedi in the mornings,” he said showing a holovideo of the Shinies with Ahsoka.</p><p>“They’re running at forty kilometers per hour,” Kix deadpanned, “For extended periods of time. They shouldn’t be able to do that.”</p><p>He switched to another holo, one of Padawan Zatt Morness swimming with his friends.</p><p>“And these young troublemakers,” he continued, “Have developed the ability to hold their breaths for as long as eight minutes, and have begun to terrify all their big brothers by diving without helmets. Fisto’s Squad have continued the fad and are now up to about ten minutes. What the kark kind of genes did you give us?!”</p><p>“One of my Ba’buire had blue hair, and another was green?” Fett offered uncertainly, “Are you sure it’s not the Kamino modifications?”</p><p>“Only modifications they gave us were the chips and the aging,” Kix said absently. Fett gave him a flat look and stood up. Kix also stood up, only for Fett to raise his eyebrow as he was... looking up at him.</p><p>Fett was about six centimeters shorter than Kix.</p><p>Ah.</p><p>“Well,” Kix began awkwardly, “Most Vode seem to get their last few centimeters of growth at age nine, which would have happened to you when you were eighteen.”</p><p>And at eighteen, Fett had been a slave in the belly of a spice freighter. The masters there probably didn’t give nutrition to ensure optimal performance and growth.</p><p>“Plus,” Kix continued, still awkward, “We seem to need a couple extra minerals that aren’t quite human standard, to reach our full height. You might not have known to get them even if you were free. You ever notice that certain metals taste really nice?”</p><p>Sometimes the body would create cravings for nutritional deficiencies, to try and solve them. Kix knew that the metallic alloy that their dog tags were made from started to taste delicious after a week of normal-human rations.</p><p>“I’m stunted,” Fett said blankly. Kix nodded.</p><p>“Will Boba be okay?” Fett asked, in concern, “He said he was hungry for a while, and, well, I didn’t know how to feed myself, apparently, let alone him.”</p><p>He looked genuinely upset. Kix felt bad for him.</p><p>He wasn’t expecting to do that.</p><p>“Boba’s been eating Clone enriched rations for the last year, as many has he can stomach,” Kix said, “He’s young enough that he shouldn’t suffer any consequences, or so Upchuck says. Apparently those extra nutrients only really become vital at biological sixteen or so.”</p><p>“Upchuck?” Fett looked like he may regret asking.</p><p>“Kamino Garrison’s CMO,” Kix sniggered, “He got his name after he didn’t take his first surgery observation too well.”</p><p>Fett looked at him with a bit of a disgusted face.</p><p>“He got better about it,” Kix shrugged, “And I’ll need to ask a few more questions about any family you can remember...”</p><p>...</p><p>Cody took a deep breath, standing in front of the door. He’d thought he was done. He’d made his peace with Fett’s memory, with what the man had done, and what he still felt for him.</p><p>And then Fett had come back, alive, well enough considering where he had been living, remorseful and protective over the small squad of Clones he had been living with. His only request since he’d been taken into custody was that those Clones not be treated differently for their association with him.</p><p>And that Obi-wan actually restrain him, when taking him into custody, apparently. Cody started to begrudgingly like him for that alone.</p><p>The door opened, and Fett looked up. He paled.</p><p>Maybe Cody needed to check the security feeds, see if anyone had been mistreating him. They were, admittedly, a little violent when provoked, but he hoped his brothers were above abusing prisoners.</p><p>“Kote?” Whispered Fett, “You’re not dead?”</p><p>Well. Apparently the ‘thinking-he-was-dead” think went both ways.</p><p>“No, despite the Seppie’s best efforts,” he said dryly, “Why’d you think I was?”</p><p>“No one ever said anything about you,” Jango explained, “And you would have been made Marshall Commander, when you were out on duty. People would know you.”</p><p>Ah.</p><p>“My name’s not Kote,” he had the unique pleasure of saying to the man, “It’s Cody Ta'raysh-E'tad (2). I renounced my old name after you betrayed us, and Alpha renamed me.”</p><p>“Oh. Commander Cody,” Fett said quietly, “I did hear of you. Which Alpha?”</p><p>“Guess,” Cody said, “I’ll give you a hint; it’s my last name.”</p><p>“Seventeen,” Fett murmured, “You named yourself Seventeen.”</p><p>“Of course,” Cody replied, “He’s my buir.”</p><p>“He visited me earlier in the tenday,” Fett offered, “I learned a lot.”</p><p>“Really?” Cody raised an eyebrow. Alpha hadn’t seemed different over the past week.</p><p>“I don’t lie when I don’t have to,” Fett said dryly.</p><p>“I don’t see any bruises,” Cody mentioned, casually. Jango shook his head.</p><p>“He mostly yelled,” he admitted, “There are things no man wants to talk about with his son.”</p><p>Well. Fett would know, wouldn’t he.</p><p>“The day you named me was the best in my life, until that point,” Cody said abruptly, “Because I was a person, you had acknowledged me. I knew even then that it wasn’t the same as Boba, but you’d given me something for no reason other than you thought it suited me.”</p><p>“You reminded me of my sister,” Jango said, “You have her eyes.”</p><p>Cody bared his teeth. It wasn’t a smile.</p><p>“You were my hero, then,” he said, “You trained us to be warriors, you’d saved my life; they almost decommissioned me for your sister’s eyes. I was over the moon. I told all my squad mates the story, when we got back to our dorms, and after we all went to bed, Alpha sat on his bunk and tried not to cry.”</p><p>Jango startled, and then horror filled his features as he listened to Cody speak.</p><p>“You named his son,” Cody said in a flat tone that was somehow reminiscent of a snarl, “You have me something he had always wanted to give, like it was nothing. I was your pet for years, a favorite droid, a walking memory, and even the scraps you gave were more than what he worked and leveraged and maneuvered to give us. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for that.”</p><p>Cody knew some would call what he had to say cruel. It may have been. But it was also the truth, and something that had haunted his heart for years. Fett needed to hear it, to know what he had done.</p><p>“I’d thought your chip was loose,” Jango said numbly, “That you were a little bit more of a person than the rest, that something made you different.”</p><p>“No,” Cody gave that not-smile again, “I was just the same.”</p><p>Jango nodded, guilt in his eyes. Good.</p><p>Cody turned and walked out. He needed to talk to Alpha-17. And a hug. He could use a hug right now.</p><p>...</p><p>The morning of the trial dawned bright and clear, with only a dusting of snow on the ground. Anakin wished it was a nicer day, to match the morning. They held the trial in a huge sparring room of the ruined Enclave building, mostly because they didn’t want children sneaking into the ventilation shafts.</p><p>This was not going to be an event for children.</p><p>Fett hugged his son at the door, and then banished Boba, and Han, Lando, Jax and the rest of his squad, who had come for moral support.</p><p>“It will be alright,” he promised, “They’ll take care of you.”</p><p>Those words were not as comforting to Boba as Fett had probably intended them to be.</p><p>It had been decided that every Clone Commander would represent his legion, and that Alpha-34 would represent the Alphas. The Jedi Council and any General who wished could attend, but they would not vote, by the Council’s decision. This trial was not on behalf of the natborns.</p><p>The deliberations started early, and flew fierce. Helmet comms were put to full use, as many Commanders talked with the men of their legion while listening to Fett give testimony.</p><p>Fett was honest, brutally so. Anakin saw some Commanders’ shoulders shaking, occasionally. But he also talked about advocating for Clones with benign mutations, and that he lightened some of the training to fit a human-standard regime instead of a Kaminoan one. He saw Rex looking consideringly at the other man.</p><p>When Fett had completed his testimony, he sat down. From the back of the auditorium, a new group walked up.</p><p>It was quite varied; the young Clones from the moon, and Kix the medic.</p><p>“The defense will come up to speak,” intoned Mace Windu, who really made a terrifying barrister.</p><p>“I object,” said Fett, “My guilt is unquestionable, there is no need for a defense.”</p><p>The clones from the moon, Anakin really should lean their names, looked at him flatly and stood up to testify anyway.</p><p>“My name is Jump,” said the leader, “I and my batchmate Brick were on the hunting moon the longest, aside from Proto- that is, Jango Fett. How long, Jango?”</p><p>“397 local days,” Fett said.</p><p>“Jango was the only one really keeping track of time,” Jump revealed, “He had been there a long time alone, before Brick and I arrived. He didn’t really like us at first, but he hunted some food for all of us and took us back to where he was living and kept watch for the night.”</p><p>“I owed you a debt,” Fett objected, “You’d saved me from being eaten. It wasn’t an altruistic gesture, I thought you were droids.”</p><p>“And then he continued to take care of us at cost to himself the entire time we were there,” Jump continued flatly, “Don’t tell me it was a debt, Proto.”</p><p>“I owe you more than I can ever repay,” Fett said, equally flatly, “It was my duty to keep you alive.”</p><p>Jump just looked at Fett. Brick sighed, and took over the testimony.</p><p>“The first day we woke up,” he said, “We found his knives in a pile by our sleeping area, and him sitting with his legs dangling from a twenty-meter drop. We grew concerned.”</p><p>Well, of course. That was one of the major signs that a Clone was having trouble.</p><p>“Demagolka forfeit their weapons and armor,” Fett explained. Well. At least Fett was honest with himself.</p><p>“He taught us to hunt, and how to skin animals for clothes, and what fruits were safe to eat,” Brick continued, “But he also wouldn’t eat except to keep himself alive, and he wouldn’t take any of the furs for himself, even when we had extra.”</p><p>“We thought he was a prototype, so we called him Proto,” Jump continued, “He was older than us, and he told us that the Kaminoans had told him we weren’t people. However, he was very clear from that first morning that he was Dar’Manda and Demagolka, and that we shouldn’t care for him.”</p><p>“Naturally, we didn’t listen. We thought it was typical older brother guilt for things that weren’t their fault,” Brick mentioned.</p><p>Anakin did not look at Alpha-17.</p><p>“He tried to keep us safe at cost to himself, he almost died several times,” Jump said, “When we almost got caught by hunters, he tried to distract them so we could escape. He got so mad at us when we refused to leave him behind.”</p><p>Fett just glared at the memory.</p><p>“He told us not to risk ourselves for him again, that he was the one who had designed the training,” Brick murmured, “And that he deserved everything that was coming t him.”</p><p>Well. Fett looked like he sincerely wished they had just killed him already. Anakin was starting to have doubts that that would be the outcome of this trial though. He settled in to watch.</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan watched as another young Clone stood up.</p><p>“A little while after this, I joined their group,” he said, “I’m Redsun, by the way. And, well, it was overwhelming at first, because there was two wild brothers I had never met and one who kept insisting he was Dar’Manda, and Demagolka, and had to be convinced to sleep in a pile with us instead of suffer the cold.”</p><p>Fett looked at the floor, and wrapped his arms around himself subconsciously.</p><p>“But he took care of us, and made sure we ate and had clothes, even when more of us came along,” he gestured to the other three Clones who had yet to speak, and sat down.</p><p>Brick and Jump continued standing. They also began to take their armor off one of their arms.</p><p>Barrister Windu raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“Should I throw you out for contempt of court?” He asked idly. Jump froze, but Brick continued rolling up the sleeve of his blacks.</p><p>“After we had been together for a while, only a few tendays before we were rescued,” he began, “He offered us something of Mandalore. He had told us as much as he could about the culture, and he had helped us make weapons and hunt, but he gathered us together and said we deserved marks of bravery, but that we didn’t have armor to paint them on, and offered us traditional tattoos.”</p><p>He revealed a pattern of diamonds, overlapping each other like scales, curling around his upper arm.</p><p>“This is for family,” he continued, “He gave it to every one of us who wanted it.”</p><p>The rest of the small group of Clones rolled up their blacks as well, revealing similar tattoos. </p><p>Obi-wan raised his eyebrows. Traditional Mandalorian tattoo was a dying art. He had seen it performed, once, when he was on the run with Satine, on a warrior who wanted to remember their parents. It was quite painful, but the warrior had explained to him that grief was also painful, and that it would be a reminder of those he had lost.</p><p>“He wouldn’t take one of the same pattern,” Brick said, “But he allowed me to practice on him, so I could learn.”</p><p>Fett sighed, and rolled up his sleeve to reveal a pattern of evenly spaced vertical lines.</p><p>“He’s genuinely remorseful for what he did,” finished Jump, “He told us who he was on the transport over here, and tried to encourage us to kill him on the spot.”</p><p>Obi-wan blinked. That was an old tradition, he had heard whispers of it but Satine had always vocally disapproved.</p><p>“We refused,” Brick said flatly, “So he turned himself over to you. But our recommendation is to keep him alive, so he can work to make his deeds right.”</p><p>“They have Starholm Syndrome,” Jango said abruptly, “Their testimony is biased.”</p><p>Starholm Syndrome was a psychological phenomenon found in hostages who had bonded with their captor as a survival mechanism. Jango was saying he had held them captive.</p><p>Obi-wan doubted it.</p><p>Kix stood up, at this accusation, motioning to the other Clones to stand down.</p><p>“I was the one who did your medical checks, Mr. Fett,” He said threateningly but pleasantly, as all medics could, “While the group of Clones with you are all underweight by ten or fifteen standard units, you were underweight by over twenty. You were giving them your food, which corroborates their story.”</p><p>“I was there longer,” Fett argued back, “Of course I’m thinner.”</p><p>“And if you had been holding them captive, as you claimed, you would probably have taken their food and gained back any weight you had lost,” Kix countered, “Try again.”</p><p>Fett just looked at him.</p><p>“It would not be just to keep me alive,” he said, quietly, “The blood of your brothers cries out from where it was spilled.”</p><p>“And then you brought my brothers back,” said Commander Trig, “I thought they were dead. Surely our brothers marching ahead understand that.”</p><p>Other Commanders nodded in agreement.</p><p>They talked to each other on helmet comms for a few minutes that felt like forever. Then, Commander Cody stood up and took his helmet off. His face was stony.</p><p>“What you have done can never be forgotten,” he said evenly, “And many of us will never forgive you, either. But you were operating under bad intel, and when you found out the true extent of your deeds you tried to repay your debt. You show a resolve to die that would be truly worrying if I actually cared about you.”</p><p>“Be professional, Cody,” scolded Ponds. Cody looked flatly at him, but returned to his speech.</p><p>“So, we have decided to let you live. My understanding of the concept of Dar’Manda is that once you have forfeited your soul, you cannot earn it back. I disagree. Once a Jedi Falls, it is possible to come back. There are people in this very room that have Fallen, and yet they walk among us today.”</p><p>Quinlan Vos and Depa Billaba looked up in surprise.</p><p>“So this is our ruling,” declared Cody evenly, “You will live with us, and work with us. You will wear our clothes, and eat our food, and speak our language, and will help us build the home that we always should have had. You will treat us and our family, Clone and Natborn alike, just the way we treat each other. You will raise your son, and any other children you may come into contact with, to be better than you ever were, treating them like you should have treated all of us. You will teach us what it is to be a Mandalorian, and give us the things we should have had as our birthright. You will do this for the rest of your natural life.”</p><p>His gaze turned hard.</p><p>“Should at any time you act to harm any of the people on this planet, or violate these terms,” he said in an even tone just the other side of threatening, “Justice will be swift and final.”</p><p>Fett stared in confusion as the court was adjourned. He stared, still confused, as his son came in with his friends, and as Jump, Brick, Redsun and their fellows surrounded him and started to lead him out.</p><p>This probably turned his world upside-down, Obi-wan mused, Mandalorian Justice was much more... lethal. But the Clones were not only Mandalorian, they were also Jedi.</p><p>This solution seemed to come from those sides of their heritage.</p><p>He looked at Anakin and sighed. It occurred to him that they needed to speak with Fett as well.</p><p>He was not looking forward to this conversation.</p><p>...</p><p>Jango was unsure. That had been his state of being for the last day; unsure and confused, with a side helping of slight despair.</p><p>He simply didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t really planned to live this long, and found himself lost in the face of a new life that he never expected to have. </p><p>He didn’t even really know what to call himself. He had lost the right to his name, but he needed to call himself something in his head. It might as well be Jango, he supposed, apparently his Clones didn’t believe in forfeiture of name.</p><p>He just didn’t know what to do.</p><p>So he hugged his son, when Boba leaned against his side. He may have accidentally hugged a couple young boys who weren’t his son, as well, due to being distracted.</p><p>Luckily, Han and Lando hadn’t seemed to mind.</p><p>And he talked to the boys he had lived with on that karking moon, and he did his best to follow the parameters of his judgement, even if it felt terribly wrong to be speaking gently with the boys he had hurt and killed.</p><p>He looked up as his door opened. He’d been moved out of the cell in the brig where he had awaited his trial to a small room that was probably a storage closet fairly recently, but it had a bed, so it was still better than the hide.</p><p>It was kriffing weird sleeping alone, now, though. It was too quiet without hearing the boys’ breathing.</p><p>He stood up when he saw the Jedi. It was Skywalker, and Kenobi, standing side by side with troopers wearing the same colors on their armor that they were. One was Alpha-17, the other was Kot- Cody. His name was Cody. A third was blond, but he didn’t recognize him.</p><p>“May we come in?” Asked Kenobi, the paragon of politeness. He nodded, somewhat warily.</p><p>He invited them to sit down on the bed, for lack of chairs, but they declined. He was just wondering why they had come when Kenobi began to speak.</p><p>“Just as the Mando’ade (3) have traditions regarding blood guilt,” he said, “So do the Jedi. And the Jedi have wronged you, greatly.”</p><p>What was this about?</p><p>“The battle at Galidraan was an atrocity,” said Kenobi lowly, “It should never have happened. The entire Order owes you an apology, you and your people.”</p><p>Jango looked at them in confusion.</p><p>“I was told that Jedi from Galidraan were dead,” he said slowly.</p><p>“For the most part, yes,” Kenobi nodded, “Though there are a couple in various prisons. But that does not make it right, in our eyes.”</p><p>Skywalker took over the explanation.</p><p>“Do you know who Dooku is?” He asked, abruptly.</p><p>He nodded, despite the slight headache. For some reason, when he thought of Dooku, he thought of Tyrranus, but they were nothing alike.</p><p>“Obi-wan and I,” continued Skywalker, “Are his grandsons, and by the traditions of the Order we owe you a formal apology.”</p><p>Jango sat up straight. They looked nothing like Dooku as they bowed elaborately, and gave a verbal apology that didn’t really register. It was only after they straightened up again that Jango found his voice.</p><p>“You’re his grandsons?” He asked, remembering a conversation with Boba the previous week, “I was told you killed him!”</p><p>Skywalker looked at the floor, but nodded. Kenobi put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, and explained.</p><p>“He was never on good terms with our father,” he said in an even tone, “And after our father died, he abandoned us. I raised Anakin alone. The first time we met after my father’s death, he held me captive and tried to kill us in an arena. Then he cut off Anakin’s hand. Naturally, we didn’t particularly like the man.”</p><p>An arena? Was that just the preferred method of executing Jedi or something? Tyrranus had used one too.</p><p>His headache was getting worse.</p><p>“Your grandfather cut off your hand?” He said to Skywalker, managing not to clench his teeth in pain, “He’s your dar’ba’buir (4), you’re not allit’kyramund (5).”</p><p>He had no clue if Jedi had those taboos, but there was no harm in sharing that bit of his culture with them. Skywalker seemed conflicted about Dooku’s death, maybe that would help.</p><p>Skywalker don’t relax, but he nodded in acknowledgment.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Kenobi said in concern.</p><p>“Headache,” Jango tried to wave him off, “I’ll be alright in a while. Can I ask when you killed Dooku?”</p><p>He gasped and doubled over, overwhelmed by the pain in his head. He faintly registered voices, sounding almost concerned. When the world came back to him, he was laying on his bunk with Kenobi and Kote looking down at him. He tried to sit up.</p><p>“What was that?” He gasped. That wasn’t an ordinary headache.</p><p>Kenobi looked grim.</p><p>“We suspect a Force compulsion,” He said, “One centered around Dooku, his name, his deeds, possibly his appearance.”</p><p>Jango felt a spike of pain as Kenobi mentioned the name, and nodded.</p><p>“Anakin went to get a Mind Healer,” Kenobi continued, “Cody and I are here to watch you, to make sure you don’t suddenly deteriorate.”</p><p>Cody was observing him without any emotion on his face.</p><p>Skywalker burst in, followed by the blond Clone, and Alpha-17. Following in their wake was a Tholothian man in Jedi robes.</p><p>“Mr. Fett,” He spoke to Jango quickly and evenly, “My name is Loteen Ritoki, I’m a mind healer. Do I have permission to give you a mental scan and remove any foreign presences in your mind?”</p><p>Jango nodded. He still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but he wanted the pain gone.</p><p>And then there was someone else inside his head.</p><p>This was just not his day, he thought wildly. It was either laugh or cry, and he couldn’t cry right now.</p><p>There was a ripping sensation, in his brain. Small, but noticeable. He flinched. Then another.</p><p>Someone held his hand.</p><p>Another rip.</p><p>Another person- or maybe the same one?- put their hand on his shoulder. They pressed.</p><p>And then it felt like his entire brain was being yanked out. He gave a short scream, and then registered the world again.</p><p>Ritoki was holding his hand. Kenobi was standing watch by the door. Cody and Alpha were holding him down by the shoulders, with Skywalker and Blond Clone each holding down a leg.</p><p>He should really get that kid’s name.</p><p>“What the kark?” He gasped.</p><p>“You had a mental compulsion on you,” Kenobi said quietly, “That created an artificial disconnect, and encouraged your thoughts not to dwell on certain subjects. When you thought of them anyway, the compulsion reacted.”</p><p>Dooku. The thought settled in his mind. Dooku really looked a lot like a younger Tyrranus. Tyrranus had tried to kill Kenobi and Skywalker in the same way they said Dooku had.</p><p>He had taken work from his family’s murderer. And here he’d thought he couldn’t get any lower.</p><p>“This one isn’t on you,” Alpha said gruffly, probably reading his face, “Force Kark can get the best of you no matter how hard you try. Especially the dar’Jetti stuff.”</p><p>Kenobi winced.</p><p>“Trust Alpha on this one, Fett,” He said quietly, “He would know.”</p><p>Well. There was a story there, one Jango wasn’t sure he wanted to hear.</p><p>“But he’s dead now?” He decided to focus on something else, “And it won’t happen again?”</p><p>Skywalker sat down on the foot of the bed and told him of Dooku’s last mission; how he had kidnapped the Chancellor of the Republic, and held him hostage. How the Chancellor has been working with Dooku the whole time. How Kenobi, his older brother, had been knocked unconscious, and the Chancellor encouraged Skywalker to kill Dooku in cold blood.</p><p>How Skywalker had.</p><p>“He’s gone,” Skywalker said quietly, “Handless, headless, body burned in the crash. He won’t come back.”</p><p>“You avenged yourself and your family,” Jango returned equally quietly, “And also me and mine. I owe you for that.”</p><p>“You don’t owe me,” Skywalker sighed, “I wasn’t doing it for you. I can’t say it was for the Jedi either.”</p><p>Kenobi, watching the proceedings, reached into his robe and withdrew a lightsaber. Jango did not flinch.</p><p>Then Kenobi flipped the handle of the lightsaber, and tried to hand it to Jango. This time, Jango did flinch.</p><p>“I’ve forfeited my right to weapons,” he said, “Especially a Jedi’s weapon.”</p><p>“There’s no crystal in it,” Kenobi explained, “It’s the second part of the apology. This is Dooku’s weapon; he forfeited it when he left the Order. By our traditions, it is yours, as a symbol of our regret.”</p><p>Jango looked at the innocent-looking silver tube, and thought of Myles and Silas and all his other vod, the ones he hadn’t allowed himself to think of since it happened.</p><p>He took the thing, and nodded in thanks. It was heavier than he thought it would be, bent in an unusual way.</p><p>The Jedi bowed again, and left. The Clones followed them. Jango was left with a heavy, empty weapon, and a thousand memories. Myles teaching him tattoo. Silas showing him how to pilot. Jaster giving him the first piece of his armor. His parents- oh, Manda, he couldn’t even remember their names anymore, just the abbreviated names he called them when he was little. Dark parent and light parent, after their hair.</p><p>He had a duty to them.</p><p>“Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum (6)”, he began, voice shaking, “Dha-Buir Fett. Nau-Buir Fett. Arla Fett. Jaster Mereel. Myles. Silas...”</p><p>It took a long time. There were so many names.</p><p>He hadn’t said his remembrances since before Galidraan. He’d been neglecting his family.</p><p>He vaguely felt Boba settle up against his side around the middle of them. He was crying by the end, and felt a hand that was not his own wipe his tears.</p><p>“That was our family?” Boba asked, quietly. He nodded, for lack of anything to say. He put both his arms around his son, and held him close like he had never allowed himself to think about on that karking moon.</p><p>“My Buire were farmers,” he said, because he needed to, “Dha-Buir was tall, and strong, and could do anything, I thought. Nau-Buir was a great cook, she could make food that would burn your sinuses out even when you were expecting it, and an even better shot with the old TK-23 rifle we kept by the door...”</p><p>He sat with his son, and told him of all the family he would never meet, and thought about the future.</p><p>“Jaster wrote something called the Supercommando Codex,” He said, not expecting Boba’s eyes to light up.</p><p>“I’ve read it!” He nearly gushed, “See?”</p><p>He thrust a small black datapad in his face. It was the one he wrote the in-case-I-die book on.</p><p>Oh, Boba.</p><p>But there was another file on the pad, a copy of the Codex with some really insightful notes.</p><p>“Kenobi and Cody have been teaching me to read Mandalorian, and we like to discuss the translation of the Codex and some of the other stuff Ba’buir wrote for class exercises,” Boba said excitedly.</p><p>Jango looked down at the pad, and back up at his son, who had the same excited expression on his face that his Buir did, when he found another old dusty document to study.</p><p>He felt wonder for the first time in a long time.</p><p>Boba noticed. Of course he did, the kid was more observant than a probe droid.</p><p>“What was that for?” He asked, curiously. Jango couldn’t keep himself from ruffling his son’s hair. It wasn’t as long as it had been, but still mussed up easily.</p><p>Boba squawked in indignation, just like he had when he was ten.</p><p>Jango felt a smile stretch his face when he replied. For the first time in years, he had a little bit of hope. Manda, he loved his son.</p><p>“I just realized that maybe I didn’t completely destroy my Buir’s legacy after all.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mando’a: Brother-killing coward<br/>2. Mando’a: Seventeen.<br/>3. Mando’a: The term used to denote the Mandalorian people<br/>4. Mando’a: no-longer-grandparent. The term ‘Dar’ signifies that the person mentioned used to hold the rank or position of the following word but did something horrible enough to forfeit it.<br/>5. Mando’a: family-killer. Somehow the Mandalorians don’t really strike me as the kind to be okay with killing in kin in ordinary circumstances.<br/>6. Mando’a: “I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal". A line traditionally said during daily remembrance of the dead. </p><p>As well as the fluff, angst, and worldbuilding that I generally use this section of the series for, I decided to use this chapter to smooth over a couple of plot holes. </p><p>Firstly, Jango Fett is demonstrably shorter than Obi-wan in Attack of the Clones. The Clones, however, are about Obi-wan’s height. This is often excused with ‘genetic modification,’ but this solution has two problems. Firstly, tall soldiers aren’t necessarily better. They eat more, are more visible, and take up more space. The ideal soldier would probably be built more like Fett, really, shorter and very stocky. Also, Boba Fett is fairly tall in the Original Trilogy, and he wasn’t modified. So instead of the Clones being artificially tall, maybe Jango is artificially short, such as from malnutrition during his growth. </p><p>Secondly, the Clones are supposedly ordinary humans but can keep up with Jedi, who are supposed to be stronger and faster than species standard. So maybe the Clones aren’t pure human; Mandalore is a known melting pot. </p><p>Thirdly, Jango Fett took a job from the man who killed his people. I’m just not seeing how that happened without a mind trick. </p><p>A note on Mandalorian names with titles: while the technically correct way to write a name and title combination is to put an apostrophe between the name and the title, like Dha’Buir, I often prefer to use a hyphen, Dha-Buir. Too many apostrophes give me a headache, especially if the title is something like ba’vodu, which already has an apostrophe already. </p><p>As always, reviews/comments/favorite lines and concepts are loved!</p><p>This will probably be my last one for a little while, guys. I’m moving tomorrow.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Harden our Hearts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Hardeen Incident, as played out in the Arcadia AU. <br/>The next one will be fluffier. I promise.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m alive! Thank you for all your well wishes, the move went great! If painfully. But, well, pain is inevitable. <br/>This chapter is a little more angsty, but I have been planning to write it for a long time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anakin felt numb. His Master was gone. He’d held Obi-wan’s body in his arms himself.</p><p>He breathed in and breathed out. It was a good thing to concentrate on.</p><p>Obi-wan had looked so still for the funeral. Satine had wept, and Padmé had cried, and even Ahsoka had shed tears, but Anakin had just felt numb. Cody, next to him, looked the same.</p><p>When Obi-wan... Obi-wan’s body was taken down to the incineration chamber, he left before the speeches could start. Talking wouldn’t sum up what Obi-wan was. Nothing could. He was Anakin’s big brother, his father, his family. It had been them against the world for ten years. Now Anakin wasn’t sure if he could face the world at all without Obi-wan watching his back.</p><p>He sat on his bed and drifted. The corner of his mind that Obi-wan had inhabited for ten years was achingly empty, and that emptiness was spreading through the rest of his brain. Maybe someone came in the room, maybe someone didn’t. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. He was only awakened from his fugue by a touch on his shoulder.</p><p>“Master?” Ahsoka asked, “Can you come to the refectory with me?”</p><p>He nodded, remembering the first months of his own apprenticeship. He’d needed to ask Obi-wan to eat with him too. Was this how he felt?</p><p>So he went, and ate more mechanically than anything, like a specially designed eating-droid. And then he slept, he thought, for a while. The next thing he really registered was a voice, walking past someone in the hall.</p><p>“... One Rako Hardeen has apparently taken responsibility for killing Master Kenobi, such a shame that people like him exist...” said the speaker, a Jedi Master speaking to a Knight. And just like that, Anakin was wide awake and had a new mission.</p><p>He needed to give his brother justice. He needed to make sure Hardeen didn’t kill anybody ever again.</p><p>“Ahsoka,” he commend his apprentice, “Meet me at the hangar.”</p><p>The next few hours were another blur. A bar. A drunken sot. Was this really the Hunter that had killed his brother? He could still smell the alcohol on the breath if the other man.</p><p>His lightsaber was lit.</p><p>It took willpower not to swing it forward.</p><p>“If it was up to me I would kill you right here! But lucky for you, the man you murdered would rather see you rot in jail,” Anakin gritted, “Now, let's go, you coward, before I change my mind.”</p><p>Then he slammed Hardeen up against the wall with a little more force than necessary, knocking him unconscious.</p><p>There was something familiar about Hardeen’s eyes, he thought, but he shook the thought away. He dumped the man at the Supermax, and tried to go on with his life.</p><p>Obi-wan had done it for him; he would do it for Ahsoka.</p><p>So he concentrated on sleeping and eating at the right times, and teaching Ahsoka her sparring and helping her with her astronav homework, and seeing Padmé when he could.</p><p>The second day, he saw a group of Jedi gathered around a holopojector.</p><p>“Emergency news bulletin!” Said the newsperson eagerly, “Rako Hardeen, the being thought to be responsible for killing Jedi General Obi-wan Kenobi, has escaped Republic Prison with other known dangerous beings, notably Cad Bane!”</p><p>What.</p><p>He felt the anger that he had been suppressing burn deep in his chest again. This time, he let it.</p><p>Obi-wan’s way has not worked. Hardeen escaped, to do who knows what to who knows who. This was not justice. Obi-wan’s way was not justice.</p><p>But he knew another way.</p><p>He went to get Ahsoka. There were things he needed to teach her, he was her Master. Maybe one of those things was that the Jedi way was sometimes not enough.</p><p>...</p><p>Ahsoka was a little scared. She had never seen Anakin this angry, but it wasn’t the uncontrolled anger of before, when they captured Hardeen. It was focused, like a laser torch, into something white hot and dangerous.</p><p>She didn’t know what to do. Normally she’d go to Master Obi-wan, but, well.</p><p>So she followed Anakin to the Twilight, and watched him pilot to an unknown destination with dark fire in his eyes. He must have noticed, because he turned to her and engaged the autopilot. He looked at her for a moment, and then sighed and put his head in his hands.</p><p>“I’m sorry, ‘Soka,” He said, with something indefinable in his voice, “You shouldn’t have to deal with any of this.”</p><p>“Master, where are we going?” She asked, nervously. Anakin sighed again.</p><p>“You know I’m from Tatooine,” he said. It wasn’t a question. She nodded anyway.</p><p>“There is no police or courts on Tattooine,” Anakin continued, “No justice system. But just because there is no justice system, does not mean there is no justice.”</p><p>She looked up. This was something she had never been taught. She had the feeling that most of the Masters at the Temple would disapprove of what Anakin was telling her.</p><p>“When a murder, or other unforgivable crime occurs,” Anakin said with the cadence of ritual, “It falls to the victim’s kin to ensure justice is done. Someone takes up the mantle of Avenger of Blood, finds the murderer, and tells the murderer their dead kinsman’s name. And then the Avenger of Blood kills the murderer, to make sure the murderer does not kill again, and so the spirit of their murdered kinsman can rest.”</p><p>Ahsoka looked at him in horror.</p><p>“The Republic is not Tattooine!” She said, in shock, “We do have a justice system!”</p><p>“And yet my brother’s murderer walks free,” said Anakin cooly, and the fire in his eyes flared.</p><p>She opened her mouth to object, but closed it again slowly. She had no argument for that. Hardeen hadn’t even been in prison two days. And he was a bounty hunter, it was very likely he’d take another contract and kill again.</p><p>But was this right? She just... didn’t know.</p><p>She noticed a light flashing on Anakin’s comm on his vambrace.</p><p>“Master,” she tried to point out, only for Anakin to put his hand up.</p><p>“I... know, Snips,” he said, tired and sad all of a sudden, “It was the last message Obi-wan sent me. I can’t make myself open it just yet.”</p><p>Oh. She could understand that.</p><p>But she also really wanted to hear her Grandmaster’s voice, one more time.</p><p>Maybe Anakin could feel it in their bond, and maybe he could just see it in her eyes, because he sighed, and held the holo ‘brace to himself for a moment, and then held it out and started to play the message.</p><p>A figure of Master Kenobi appeared, tired like he always was, and seeming a little sad too.</p><p>“Hello Anakin,” He said quietly, “I... was hoping to talk with you, but you seem to be busy. Nothing important, mind, just old memories.”</p><p>The projection smiled, reminiscent and bitter all at once.</p><p>“Did I ever tell you about Cerasi?” He asked, suddenly, “She was from Melida-Daan, I know that you were told about that mission by my meddling crèchemates. She was the reason I stayed, her and Neild, they convinced me. She was impassioned, and vital, and vigorous; to hear her speak was to know the justice of her cause.”</p><p>The hologram shifted a little, reacting to some outside stimuli not recorded by the holocapture.</p><p>“Neild, Cerasi, and I led the Young through many battles,” the figure of Obi-wan continued, sadly, “We were great friends. Cerasi mentored me in politics, turning me into more than just a Jedi Padawan without his lightsaber, into a true leader. In many ways, I believe that the relationship was somewhat similar to yours and Palpatine’s.”</p><p>The projection smiled, in a way that conveyed absolutely no joy.</p><p>“She was shot by a hidden sniper, trying to make a lasting peace,” he said flatly, “She died in my arms. It still haunts my nightmares, Anakin.”</p><p>The figure shifted again, uncertainly, but continued speaking</p><p>“I would never want you to have that kind of pain,” he said quietly, “And anything I can do to spare you it, I will. Please remember that.”</p><p>There were indistinct voices at the edge of the projection. Obi-wan looked up, past the holocapture.</p><p>“I need to go,” he said, still quiet, “If the Force is kind, we will see each other soon.”</p><p>The holo winked out. Anakin closed his eyes, his sorrow briefly overtaking his anger. Ahsoka felt her own eyes tearing.</p><p>Anakin’s fist clenched.</p><p>“We need to find him,” he growled, and started to pilot the ship again.</p><p>...</p><p>It was hard to think past the overwhelming emptiness in his soul. That was what Obi-wan thought, anyway. This was worse than when Qui-gon died.</p><p>And he had no one. At least after Qui-gon died, he had Anakin. Now it was him who was dead, and he had no one.</p><p>He couldn’t take it, at first; he’d gone to get blackout drunk in a lowlife bar, trying to await the start of his mission without going insane. He’d thought he was hallucinating, when Anakin and Ahsoka came to arrest him. He’d felt nothing in the Force.</p><p>Then he remembered the Force-blocking implant in his arm that prevented him from feeling anyone’s signature, as well as suppressing his own.</p><p>Prison had been... unpleasant. That was the only thought he allowed to register. It had been unpleasant.</p><p>He hadn’t realized they had sentenced Boba Fett to the adult Supermax. It was... unpleasant.</p><p>The breakout was... unpleasant.</p><p>The running, the endless running and hiding that they were doing, was also unpleasant, but at least it furthered his mission.</p><p>And when he was done with the mission, he told himself, he could go home. That was the thought he clung to, when he allowed himself to think at all.</p><p>He was prepared for yet more running and hiding, when Anakin stepped forward out of the shadow. There was something in his face that Obi-wan had never seen before.</p><p>“You’re going to pay for what you did,” Anakin snarled. Obi-wan shook his head. Anakin was hurting, he shouldn’t be hurting this much. Obi-wan never wanted to hurt him this much.</p><p>“You shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he offered, half-desperately.</p><p>Anakin’s face hardened, and a cold fire flickered in his eyes. His words turned deliberate.</p><p>“This is for Obi-wan Kenobi,” he said, and lunged forward.</p><p>Anakin was trying to kill him. That was the only thing that registered in Obi-wan’s mind. Anakin was hurting, and was trying to kill him.</p><p>Did the Council not tell him? They were supposed to tell him after the funeral.</p><p>They fought, and it near tore Obi-wan’s heart out. He finally got Anakin in a headlock, just like he used to when he and Anakin were wrestling playfully as Master and Padawan, and simply couldn’t take it anymore.</p><p>He reached, straining past the Force-Null implant, and tapped on Anakin’s shields. They evaporated at his touch like water.</p><p>“Don’t follow me, Anakin,” he whispered, trying to show his brother how sorry he was through their bond. Then he slipped a sleep suggestion through, and Anakin collapsed.</p><p>It hurt to walk away. But, he told himself, he was trying to spare Anakin pain. If the Chancellor died from this scheme that they had discovered, Anakin would be devastated. At least Obi-wan would come back.</p><p>He promised himself he would come back.</p><p>Whether he would be welcome back, well, that was another story. But he could not allow himself to dwell on that right now.</p><p>He looked Cad Bane in the face, and did not let himself remember that he was a Jedi.</p><p>...</p><p>Anakin was still angry. That was all he could register. He glared at Obi-wan standing in front of them, strangely subdued, hiding his hands and looking down.</p><p>They were alone, having been shown to a small suite of rooms they would stay in while they were still on Naboo, after the cosmetic surgery had been undone. Ahsoka was out getting food.</p><p>“Anakin,” Obi-wan started to say, and Anakin couldn’t take it anymore. He punched Obi-wan in the face, hard, fast, with his metal hand. He used his flesh hand to gather Obi-wan’s collar in his fist.</p><p>“How dare you?!” He yelled, “I thought you were dead! I was alone! You were dead!”</p><p>Obi-wan didn’t struggle as Anakin shook him and yelled, only semi-coherently.</p><p>“Why would you do that to me?!” Anakin screamed, finally, letting go of his brother’s robe. Obi-wan’s face flickered at the loss of contact, but he drew himself upright, still hiding his hands.</p><p>“Did you get my holocall?” He asked, voice even with a hint of hesitance. Anakin remembered that message he’d watched with Ahsoka in the Twilight, it felt like so much longer ago than it actually was.</p><p>Obi-wan had been so sad. Even sadder, when he talked about Cerasi.</p><p>Anakin had heard of Cerasi before; Bant had taken him aside quietly one day in the Temple, and told him of Melida-Daan, and how he had joined their cause, and how it had fallen apart around his ears.</p><p>But he hadn’t known that Cerasi and Obi-wan were close, and they must have been, if Obi-wan had compared their relationship with Anakin and Palpatine’s. And to have her die as he held her? It would have been unbearably cruel.</p><p>The plot was to shoot Palpatine with a hidden sniper, probably with Anakin next to him. Anakin had been invited to the ceremony, long before any of this ever happened. Dear Force.</p><p>“You were trying to keep it from happening again,” Anakin realized. Obi-wan nodded, hesitantly.</p><p>“Why didn’t you tell me?” Anakin asked, the anger rearing it’s head again.</p><p>“You were supposed to be told after the funeral,” Obi-wan said quietly, “And stay in the Temple with Ahsoka until I was back.”</p><p>“I wasn’t,” Anakin growled.</p><p>Obi-wan nodded, evenly.</p><p>“And for that, I can only apologize,” he offered.</p><p>He was hiding himself. Anakin hated when he did that. He wanted to talk to his brother, not The Negotiator.</p><p>“I know you likely won’t believe me,” Obi-wan offered, “But I was sincerely trying to do my duty and spare you pain.”</p><p>“Don’t talk to me about sincerity!” Anakin growled, “When you’re using your Negotiator face, and your emotionless voice, and not looking me in the eyes, and your Force signature is still shielded!”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Obi-wan said quietly, “I have yet to take the implant out.”</p><p>“Implant?” Anakin said numbly. He felt like he’d been slapped in the face. Force-null implants were used by slavers. They drove Jedi insane.</p><p>Obi-wan gestured to his arm.</p><p>“Sit down!” Anakin growled. No wonder Obi-wan wasn’t being honest with him. He found and sanitized a knife with his wielding torch.</p><p>Obi-wan was looking at him in apprehension.</p><p>“Anakin,” he said nervously, “What are you doing?”</p><p>“You need to get that implant out,” Anakin said, “Right now.”</p><p>Obi-wan looked up in surprise, and maybe a little bit of longing, and cleaned the area on his arm where Anakin would have to cut.</p><p>The instant Anakin took that implant out, his brother’s Force presence gloomed around them, harmonizing with Anakin’s again. Obi-wan was overwhelmed by having the Force again after so long without, so he let more emotions slip down their bond than he probably realized.</p><p>Fear of rejection. Self-disgust. Those were what Anakin noticed first. Then he felt how tired Obi-wan was, how empty he had felt.</p><p>He knew that emptiness too.</p><p>“I didn’t mean to cause you pain,” Obi-wan offered, one last time. It echoed with a ragged sincerity down their bond. Anakin bandaged the incision, and sighed, and sat down beside Obi-wan.</p><p>“It will take me a long time to forgive you,” he said, because it was true. There was still a low curl of anger in his chest, one he would probably have for years. Obi-wan nodded, and looked down. He jumped in surprise as Anakin hugged him.</p><p>“But I’m glad you’re not dead,” Anakin said, “Don’t ever do that to me again.”</p><p>He felt Obi-wan settle against him, and tentatively hug back.</p><p>“Never again,” Obi-wan promised, and Anakin buried his face in his brother’s neck. He finally let himself cry.</p><p>...</p><p>Ahsoka knocked on the door to the suite. She’d felt a lot of emotion from Anakin over their bond, so she was cautious when she got back with the takeout.</p><p>The door slid open in front of her, so she stuck her head in cautiously, and immediately felt relief. Her Grandmaster’s Force signature was there, swirling comfort and light like it always did. It had been so eerie to see him walking with them with no signature; it was like he was a ghost.</p><p>Anakin looked up and smiled at her with faintly red eyes. Master Obi-wan, sitting beside her Master, also smiled, with a hesitance in his face.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he murmured, “I did not mean to hurt you.”</p><p>She hugged him.</p><p>“I’m just glad you’re back,” she whispered. Gingerly, he hugged her in return, gently at first, and then stronger. Anakin joined the hug, and they sat there a while, simply happy they were all alive.</p><p>After a while, they disentangled from each other, sitting in a silence that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable; it just was.</p><p>“Why did you do it, Master?” Ahsoka couldn’t stop herself from asking. Master Obi-wan sighed, and looked at something in the distance that only he could see.</p><p>“When I was thirteen,” he began, “I was sent on a rescue mission to a planet called Melida-Daan.”</p><p>He told them all about the Young, how they were tired of war. How his Master left him behind. Cerasi, the woman he had mentioned in that holo. How they were so close to achieving peace, before it was all ripped away.</p><p>“I... didn’t want that for you, Anakin,” Master Obi-wan said hesitantly, “Palpatine is very important to you, I know, and I didn’t want him to die like that. I was the only Jedi available even remotely qualified for the mission; I’ve spent extended periods of time without the Force before.”</p><p>What?</p><p>“You were kept as a slave, you mean,” Anakin said lowly. Master Obi-wan nodded.</p><p>“You were a slave?” Ahsoka asked, voice small. Master Obi-wan and Anakin both looked at her.</p><p>“On and off through my apprenticeship, never for more than a week at a time,” Master Obi-wan murmured.</p><p>She looked at him in horror.</p><p>“It is the past,” Master Obi-wan said, “It cannot he changed. But you can change the future. I didn’t want your friend to die the way mine did, Anakin.”</p><p>Anakin looked at Master Obi-wan with an unreadable expression, but nodded.</p><p>“I tried to perform my duties as Avenger of Blood,” he said, quietly, without much emotion in his voice, “Just like I had to for my mother. I can’t bury another parent, Obi-wan.”</p><p>Master Obi-wan’s eyes grew large, and he closed him in regret.</p><p>“All I can say, Anakin, is that I am truly sorry,” he said, and the Force echoed the truth in his words.</p><p>They didn’t let Master Obi-wan out of their sight for the rest of their time in Naboo.</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan was... not quite happy, but happier than he had been over the course of the mission. He had damaged his relationship with his brother and sister, his Padawan and Grandpadawan, more than he was sure he could repair.</p><p>But he could feel the Force again, and that filled him with a kind of light that he had rarely felt.</p><p>Anakin and Ahsoka had been... odd, over the last couple of days. Anakin had been both clingy and angry with him, at the same time. Ahsoka had been quiet, mostly, and spent more time with him than was the norm.</p><p>But all respites from the war must end, and the Negotiator was picking him up from Naboo on the way Coreward. They had been assigned to escort duty for a minor political figure whose tiny world had suddenly turned into a vitally important battlefield.</p><p>Obi-wan took a breath as his fighter landed in the Negotiator’s hangar. He didn’t know how his men would react to his absence.</p><p>He stepped out of the fighter, carefully not hesitating, and being sure to look every man he met in the eye. Unlike many cultures, the Clones believed that eye contact was a sign of utmost respect, a sign that conversational partners believed in each other’s personhood. Clones always made eye contact with each other when possible.</p><p>He stepped into the ready room where the debriefing for his officers was to be held carefully.</p><p>Cody was there, and Waxer and Boil. They all looked up when seeing him, faces full of surprise and... joy? They were happy to see him?</p><p>“Sir!” Waxer greeted cheerily, “Good job on your mission!”</p><p>Good job?</p><p>“Gentlemen,” he greeted quietly, “I apologize for the deception.”</p><p>“You’re alive,” Boil grunted, “I’d rather you lie to us about being dead than you actually being dead.”</p><p>“You had a duty,” Cody nodded, “And you carried out your duty, and you came back. That’s all we can ask.”</p><p>Obi-wan looked at his men with wide eyes. Cody must have noticed his surprise, because he pushed his chair back from the table and stood.</p><p>“I could use your help with some paperwork, sir,” he said, fairly affably. Obi-wan nodded, in confusion, and followed his Commander to the other man’s office. He sat down across from Cody at his desk, like he always did, but Cody didn’t turn on a datapad. He didn’t even open his desk drawers.</p><p>“You were surprised,” Cody said in a conversational tone, “When we welcomed you back.”</p><p>Obi-wan nodded, and said nothing.</p><p>“Others were not so welcoming?” Cody guessed, calmly. Obi-wan nodded again.</p><p>Cody hesitated, and then reached out his hand to Obi-wan. Obi-wan also hesitated, and then took it.</p><p>“We don’t blame you,” Cody said evenly, “And anyone who does can take it up with us.”</p><p>Obiwan wondered, not for the first time, how such a good and upright and genuine man could have ever come out of Kamino.</p><p>“I appreciate your loyalty, Cody,” he said, for lack of anything else.</p><p>“You’ve earned it,” Cody insisted, looking in his eyes, squeezing his hand, “Don’t let anyone convince you different.”</p><p>Obi-wan felt himself smile, genuinely, for the first time since the start of that horrible mission.</p><p>“Thank you,” He said, quietly but sincerely, wishing he could share his Force signature with Cody for the umpteenth time. Cody smiled back, but then sighed.</p><p>“If you’re up for it,” he said, ruefully, “I could really use some help with paperwork.”</p><p>“Where do we begin?” Asked Obi-wan, equally ruefully, though he wasn’t really that put out.</p><p>There were much worse things in the galaxy than sitting in a small office and filling out forms with his friend.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love comments/favorite lines/reviews!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Captains, Colonels, and Clones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have not fallen off the face of the earth, don’t worry. <br/>I’m not quite satisfied with how this turned out, but I’ve been tweaking it for a week. I just need to get it posted.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Captain Firmus Piett smiled as he stared at the stars. All was right with the world, for now at least.</p><p>He had been transferred from the Axillian Anti-Pirate Fleet to the Republic Navy Proper three years ago, due to his diligence and competence, or so he had been told. In his opinion, he was merely doing his job.</p><p>He had recently been promoted and given a ship of his own, the Excellence. She was magnificent; slightly larger than the Venator Class, graceful like an Alderaanian swan, and with quite a respectable hyperspace jump capability. The crew had taken to calling her the Lady Ex, a lovely name for a lovely ship.</p><p>He might still be a little giddy, but he wasn’t about to admit it to anyone. Though he had commed his sister, and then the Skywalkers, to tell them the news.</p><p>“Captain Piett!” He heard a voice call from his right, “Debrief on the walkers!”</p><p>He headed to the briefing room, only to meet Colonel Maximillian Veers on the way.</p><p>“After you, Captain,” the other man quirked his eyebrow humorously as he indicated the doorway they were both about to walk through.</p><p>Max was one of the people he would tentatively call friend on the Lady. He was boisterous, but kind, and a good person to catch a drink with in the Officer’s Lounge at the end of the day.</p><p>Even if he was a ground-pounder.</p><p>He good-naturedly slid past Max and waited a beat for the other man to catch up. They talked of nothing in particular for the rest of the walk to the briefing room, mostly of Max’s son Zevulon and his latest antics at boarding school.</p><p>Piett wondered if he shouldn’t have given Max the Skywalkers’ contact information. He had intended for Zevulon and the Skywalker-1 squad to become pen pals, but he had neglected to consider the troublemaking influence the squad exerted.</p><p>Nothing for it now, he supposed.</p><p>They had almost reached the briefing room when General Quarters sounded. Piett immediately turned on his heel and started racing back toward the bridge. He vaguely registered Max following him.</p><p>“Report!” He barked, as he reached his station. His first mate snapped into a salute.</p><p>“Unknown ship dropped out of hyperspace and fired a warning shot to our upper starboard quadrant, Sir!” He barked.</p><p>“Hail them,” Piett replied, and walked briskly to the comm table. An older Weequay woman popped on screen.</p><p>“You’re Piett?” She said bluntly. Piett And Max exchanged a look, and Piett nodded.</p><p>“You’ve got my son,” she continued threateningly, “And I’ve got your niece and nephews. How about we trade?”</p><p>What.</p><p>“Ah,” Piett said hesitantly, “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, milady?”</p><p>She leveled a flat gaze at him.</p><p>“Pirate Queen Ohnaka. The correct form of address is ‘Your Majesty.’ Now, where is my son?”</p><p>Oh dear.</p><p>“I don’t quite know where Hondo is as the moment, your Majesty,” Piett tried, “Last I had heard, he escaped again.”</p><p>It was true. Piett tried to keep an eye out for Hondo Ohnaka, if only because Hondo had managed to connect Piett and Skywalkers in his rum-addled mind. Piett had already been kidnapped and held for ransom twice.</p><p>Though the complementary food was quite nice.</p><p>“Don’t give me that, Piett,” Ohnaka snapped, “I haven’t heard from him in a tenday.”</p><p>Well.</p><p>“All I can tell you, your majesty, is that he hasn’t kidnapped me for the last four months. Maybe check in with the Councilor?”</p><p>It was best not to advertise he was friends with Jedi and Clones. Don’t borrow trouble.</p><p>“He hasn’t seen Hondo in three tendays,” Ohnaka grumbled, “And then he tried to charm me into staying and being captured.”</p><p>That did sound like Kenobi.</p><p>“You said you had my niece and nephews?” Piett said tiredly. Ohnaka nodded, and gestured for the camera to shift. Luke, Leia, and Ajax appeared on the screen, and lit up when they saw him.</p><p>“Uncle Pete!” Exclaimed Ajax, his smile lighting up his face.</p><p>“Captain Piett, Ajax, I’m at work,” Piett corrected absently, “And unlike your four-year-old sister, I know you can say my name properly.”</p><p>“Yes, Captain,” Ajax sighed, “You sound like Rex.”</p><p>“Rex is the most sensible individual in your entire family, I will take this as a complement,” Piett replied, “Are the rest of your brothers with you?”</p><p>Ajax nodded, but the holo angle changed abruptly back to Queen Ohnaka.</p><p>“They’ll be put into an escape pod,” she sighed in exasperation, “And you can pick them up.”</p><p>Then the holo blinked out.</p><p>Piett blinked at the empty table.</p><p>“Your family got kidnapped by pirates? Why didn’t you say something, Firmus?” Max gasped at him in... concern?</p><p>“I didn’t know,” Piett said absently, “And it happens fairly often. I’ve gotten kidnapped twice myself, now.”</p><p>Max looked at him in horror. Piett’s thoughts caught up with him, and realized why Max was so concerned.</p><p>Well. His life had definitely gone through shuffling in the last four years.</p><p>“Hondo Ohnaka isn’t really an ordinary pirate,” he assured Max, and also the rest of his concerned bridge crew, “He provides complementary snacks and drinks to ensure the most invigorating hostage experience.”</p><p>The concerned looks changed into confusion.</p><p>“Yes, he’s odd, but mostly harmless,” Piett sighed, “And his mother is probably similar. She’s ejecting the escape pod now.”</p><p>Sure enough, the vessel had launched a pod and then jumped to hyperspace.</p><p>A thought occurred to Piett- Hastings, trying to recapture Ajax and the other Clones, back when he first met them. He froze, and his gaze swept the bridge.</p><p>“Anything wrong?” Max asked him, concerned. Piett looked at him and made a snap decision.</p><p>“Max,” He asked genteelly, “Would you like to meet my family?”</p><p>...</p><p>Colonel Maximillian Veers was confused, and didn’t mind admitting it. Firmus was a man he wouldn’t mind a better acquaintance with, he admitted, but a very odd one. He seemed almost more concerned about his nieces and nephews on a Republic Star Cruiser than on a pirate ship.</p><p>Complementary snacks. How absurd.</p><p>But he accepted the man’s invitation, and now they were in the private forward hangar as the lifepod was gently lowered to the deck by tractor beams. The hatch hissed and opened, and the next thing Max knew they were overwhelmed by a tide of excited children.</p><p>“Uncle Pete!” The one in the lead clamored, a child with dark hair and tanned skin.</p><p>“Hello, Ajax,” Firmus greeted, and bent down to hug each child in turn, “This is Maximillian Veers, a friend of mine.”</p><p>“Maximillain Veers?” The one blond kid on the whole batch asked, hesitantly, “Like Zev’s dad?”</p><p>This kid knew Zevulon?</p><p>“The proper title, young man, is Colonel Zev’s Dad,” said Firmus, with entirely too much amusement.</p><p>Max blinked at him.</p><p>“Yes, I am Zevulon’s father,” he said, “Though I’m afraid I have yet to make your acquaintance.”</p><p>The kids shot him smiles, and then lined up in a row with almost military precision. Then they did a roll call.</p><p>“Luke!”</p><p>“Leia!”</p><p>“Jasper!”</p><p>“Cyrus!”</p><p>“Sargon!”</p><p>“Hajir!”</p><p>“Darius!”</p><p>“Ajax!”</p><p>“Hector!”</p><p>“Jurek!”</p><p>“Keion!”</p><p>“Tychon! We’re Zev’s pen pals!” Added the last one.</p><p>“And your family name?” Asked Max, a little dazed. Firmus smirked at him.</p><p>“Skywalker,” said the girl, “Or, well, Skywalker-Amidala if you want to get technical.”</p><p>Skywalker. Two of them were wearing lightsabers.</p><p>“Firmus,” Max forced himself to say evenly, “You never mentioned that you were related to Jedi.”</p><p>Firmus shrugged, still entirely too amused.</p><p>“I’m adopted,” he deadpanned, “We had better get you to my quarters.”</p><p>The Admiral’s quarters were only a short distance from the private bay, but Firmus seemed tense for the entire walk. He visibly relaxed when they were all in the quarters and the door was closed.</p><p>He kept glancing at the dark-haired ones, nervously. Not because of them, for them.</p><p>The dark-haired boys all looked the same. Exactly the same. Like ten twins.</p><p>Max has met a few Clones, when he was an Army Cadet. They looked like them. And who better to accompany miniature Jedi than miniature Clones?</p><p>“Firmus,” Max sighed, “You never mentioned you were related to Jedi and Clones.”</p><p>Firmus gave him a very careful look. Why was the man so nervous?</p><p>Why were the kids so nervous?</p><p>“It is unwise to broadcast any relation to Clones,” Firmus murmured, “There are those who do not believe they are not people.”</p><p>The Republic’s official stance was that there was no problem until the Clones were found, but there were bigots in the ranks of every branch of the military.</p><p>“First time we met Uncle Pete,” said one of the young Clones, “He had to stun his medic to try and make sure we weren’t conscripted.”</p><p>Conscripted? They weren’t more then fourteen!</p><p>“When was this?” Max asked in horror.</p><p>“Four years ago,” Firmus replied quietly. Max turned to him, still horrified.</p><p>“They’re my son’s age,” he whispered. Firmus nodded in understanding. However, the kids brightened.</p><p>“Is Zev here?” One asked, eagerly.</p><p>“Can we see him?” Asked another.</p><p>“No, Zev is not here,” Firmus sighed, “Republic military forbids minors from accompanying family members on missions.”</p><p>“Right,” muttered one, “Forgot the Republic is no fun.”</p><p>“A military vessel is no place for children!” Max spluttered. He was fixed with some very serious looks, from both the Clones and the twins in the group.</p><p>“I’m thirteen,” said the girl, Leia, deliberately, “A Jedi Padawan. I have been in active war zones. Were the war still ongoing, I would be registered with the rank of Commander.”</p><p>One of the Clones spoke up next.</p><p>“They used to send our older brothers into battle at eight,” he said, just as deadly serious, “Physically sixteen. I’m five years older than that, I could qualify for noncommissioned Officer now, by some legion’s standards during the war.”</p><p>Max looked at them in shock, and felt the horror creeping up again. Firmus was rubbing his temples.</p><p>“They don’t really have civilians, Max,” he sighed, “Where they live. Everyone is part of a legion, their legion is their tribe. They travel together to go on humanitarian missions, and when they reach thirteen they travel with their teacher and guardian and help in tense diplomatic situations which can sometimes escalate. They’re a warrior culture, if a service-oriented one.”</p><p>Max looked at Firmus in surprise, and then considered something.</p><p>Uncle Pete. Familiarity with this new culture. Care for the children. He’s adopted.</p><p>“What legion are you part of, Firmus?” He sighed.</p><p>Firmus’ lips quirked.</p><p>“713th,” He said, amused. Some of the children laughed. Firmus must have noticed his confusion, because he ruffled one of the Clone’s hair and explained.</p><p>“The 501st And 212th legions are... quite close. Their leaders are brothers. They often run missions together. The running joke is that they are not two legions, but one,” Firmus explained, “Add 501 and 212 together, and you get 713.”</p><p>“It’s a good example of our luck, too,” a voice came from the door. Max jumped and spun, only to see a dark-haired, blue-eyed man in armor.</p><p>Wait. That was Anakin Skywalker.</p><p>“Lucky seven,” Skywalker continued, “And unlucky thirteen.”</p><p>The children sniggered again.</p><p>“Alright, you troublemakers,” Skywalker sighed, “Get ready to load up.”</p><p>The children started to stand up and make sure they hadn’t left anything behind. One of the Clones came forward and pressed something into Max’s hand.</p><p>“For Zev!” He smiled brightly. Max blinked down at the piece of white plastoid in his hand, looked up to see Firmus nearly overwhelmed by affectionate embraces and a slap on the back from Skywalker, and then they were gone.</p><p>“What just happened?” He felt himself ask. Firmus smirked at him, the karker.</p><p>“Meet the Skywalkers,” He said, “The confusion wears off eventually.”</p><p>“What’s this? They said it was for my son,” Max held out the piece of plastoid, painted carefully with gold and blue.</p><p>“It’s an adoption coin,” Firmus smiled, and produced a similar piece of plastoid from his own pocket, “They’ve made your son their brother, by their traditions.”</p><p>Max stared at the piece of plastoid in bewilderment, and felt Firmus pat his shoulder sympathetically.</p><p>“Are you sure I’ll understand more later?” He asked, somewhat plaintively.</p><p>Firmus smiled and nodded reminiscently.</p><p>“Certainly. After all, I did.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love comments/reviews/favorite lines!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. A Place and a People</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Clones have an odd sense of justice.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the end of what I have begun to refer to as the ‘Jango Trilogy.’<br/>I’ve enjoyed it, it’s allowed me to do a lot of worldbuilding.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Colt sat across from Jango at the mess. The other man looked up in confusion, but didn’t say anything as Colt settled his tray across from him.</p><p>Jango had been living aboard the Minstrel of the Dawn for two months, mostly keeping to himself outside of the community service projects that various Commanders thought of for him to do. He talked mostly to Boba and the rest of Array Squad, outside of work. Colt knew many of his fellow Commanders and a few Alphas had talked to the man personally, but those were mostly one-time visits.</p><p>His request, though, would not be a one-time visit.</p><p>“I’d like to learn how to kill Force users,” he said pleasantly to the other man. Jango started violently.</p><p>“Why?” He asked, almost on reflex, “The Jedi are your aliit (1).”</p><p>Colt smiled grimly.</p><p>“A scenario,” he said, still in a pleasant voice, “Your home, and the home of your family, is under attack by Dar’Jetti (2). You are assigned to defend it, and specifically to defend a tactically significant item with some personal significance. You do your job to the best of your ability. You manage to stand your ground against one Dar’Jetti, and even drive him off for a short time, but another sneaks up on you and impales you on her lightsaber.”</p><p>Jango looked at him in horror.</p><p>“Her aim is off,” Colt continued, “But you play dead anyway, and you feel her kiss your cheek before extinguishing the sabers and running.”</p><p>Jango’s horror had turned to anger and disgust and protectiveness that Colt refused to admit made something warm inside of him.</p><p>“Took me nearly six months to heal,” Colt admitted, “With my buir playing with the allocations requests to issue me more bacta than was allowed for any one Clone at the time. I still have to deal with the fact that my first kiss was Assaj Ventress.”</p><p>“That was you?” Jango said quietly, and made a move to reach his hand out. Colt nodded, and turned to see Alpha-17 sitting down next to him.</p><p>Good. The older man had taken his offer.</p><p>“Scenario two,” Alpha began flatly, “You and your best friend are captured and tortured by a Dar’Jetti. Three months. Your friend manages to get you free of the prison cell, but completely exhausts himself in the process, leaving you to carry him out of the prison and hope to Stars she doesn’t catch you.”</p><p>He gave a sardonic smile.</p><p>“She does,” he continued, “But through a combination of luck and your best friend finding his seventh wind and exhausting himself even more, she cannot keep you.”</p><p>Jango’s look of horror and protectiveness had turned to Alpha-17, who looked like he didn’t quite know what to do with it. Colt took over.</p><p>“Ventress is still unaccounted for,” he said quietly, “Could still be hunting us right now. If we know how to defeat her, I know I’ll sleep better at night.”</p><p>“What do you want me to do?” Jango said, quietly, but searchingly.</p><p>“You killed six Force Users with your bare hands,” Colt replied equally quietly, “Teach me how.”</p><p>Jango looked torn, but nodded.</p><p>“I don’t know how to kill Dar’Jetti,” he explained, “Just Jetii. But I will teach you what I have learned.”</p><p>Colt nodded back.</p><p>“When do we start?”</p><p>...</p><p>Alpha-17 didn’t know what to make of Fett, not really. His memories of the man, distant and uncaring, weren’t really matching with the person in front of him, who mostly acted like a living ghost, quiet and remorseful.</p><p>He almost acted like an Alpha. Alpha did not know what to make of that.</p><p>So he merely watched Fett, who stepped to the front of the class of mostly CC clones and waited for the talking to die down.</p><p>“The first thing you need to know,” he said, when everyone’s attention was on him, “Is that many Force Users get arrogant. Make sure they underestimate you, it’s the only way you can get close. Fake injuries, pretend to be in shock or having a panic attack. They can get inside your head, so make sure to be thinking of something that matches your actions.”</p><p>Alpha carefully did not remember Rattatak.</p><p>“Many Force Users also seem to forget that they can be harmed by mundane means, such as a rock to the head, or a shiv, or even a blaster bolt,” Fett continued. He probably wasn’t expecting the enthusiastic agreement from his audience.</p><p>“Ugh!” Rex threw up his hands, “Anakin just stands up on top of walls, no helmet, and waits for the blaster bolt to find him!”</p><p>“Got you one better, Vod,” Bly said, “Mine wouldn’t wear armor until after the war!”</p><p>“Three words for you,” Cody said, “Captured. By. Slavers.”</p><p>“Ladies!” Alpha raised his voice, since Fett was mostly watching in bewilderment, “You can commiserate over tea and crumpets later! Shut your traps and eyes forward!”</p><p>Quiet. Fett looked at him with a somewhat grateful confusion, but began his lesson again.</p><p>“Once they get close, act quickly. Don’t think about what you are doing, rely as much as you can on instinct and muscle memory. There is no guaranteed nonlethal way to take on a Force User; hits that would cripple an ordinary person for life don’t seem to even register. You have to go for the kill,” he said quietly.</p><p>The mood in the room was solemn.</p><p>“If you can’t kill them in one blow,” Fett continued, “Make sure the wound is painful. Pain distracts them.”</p><p>Alpha stepped up, and tapped Fett on the shoulder.</p><p>“I feel like I need to interject, here,” he said. Fett nodded, and stepped back minutely.</p><p>“Pain distracts lightside users, and inexperienced dark-side users,” Alpha told the assembled CCs, “If you’re fighting a Sith, like Ventress, it will probably just make them madder, and that makes them stronger.”</p><p>Fett’s eyes went wide.</p><p>“There’s a difference?” He asked, quietly. Alpha blinked at him, and then at some of the CTs who had decided to join the class, who also looked confused.</p><p>Well.</p><p>“I think we need to talk to one of the many resident Force Users,” he said, “I’m just good at knowing how to hit things.”</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan Kenobi was not expecting company. He certainly was not expecting to be invited outside, where nearly every CC Clone on Dantooine, several CTs and Alphas, and Jango Fett were all looking at him expectantly.</p><p>“Remind me why I have been invited here again,” he said to Alpha-17, who had been the one to shepherd him out to this odd group.</p><p>“To guest-lecture on that philosophy you’re always nattering on about,” Alpha replied, “What’s the difference between Jedi and Sith, and the other little cults running around being a pain in the shebs.”</p><p>Obi-wan blinked at him, and blinked again when Alpha slapped him on the back encouragingly and went to sit with Cody. He turned to the group of men in front of him, and mentally shrugged.</p><p>“Well, the Force can be divided into two sides, two different ways,” he began, “The Dark and Light side, and the Living and Unifying. The Dark/Light division mostly focuses on whether you use emotions or conscious thought to access the Force; Living and Unifying has more to do with specialties in living things or nonliving things.”</p><p>“I thought Dark was evil,” said Colt interestedly.</p><p>“The Dark can corrupt, but only because thinking with your emotions makes you susceptible to bad decisions and manipulation by others,” Obi-wan replied, “the Dark has gained its reputation due to the actions of those following negative emotions and not their morals. However, even drawing on positive emotions can be dangerous, due to bias. It is very easy to protect only those you care about, and leave everyone else to burn. It can turn into a selfish, vicious circle.”</p><p>“Really,” said Jango, in surprise. Obi-wan nodded, and Jango looked at the ground, pensively.</p><p>“The Sith are a sect of Dark Side users that actively draw power from anger and hatred, specifically. They will often seek to gain power through causing suffering to others. Nightsisters, which are the other main dark sect in the galaxy at the moment, prefer to draw on fear,” he elaborated, “Though there are some Dark sects that are fairly harmless, they are fewer in number. Thinking with your emotions also tends to open you up to fanaticism.”</p><p>“Practitioners of the Light walk a different path,” Obi-wan continued, “We choose to use the Force consciously, after thinking it through, ideally considering all possible help and harm that can come from an action.”</p><p>“You’re telling me that Anakin practices thinking things through,” Rex deadpanned. A ripple of laughter went through the men.</p><p>“I did say ideally,” Obi-wan replied dryly, “Perhaps I am not explaining it quite well.”</p><p>He picked up a small rock from the ground, and showed it to the assembled men.</p><p>“Say I had a task: to lift this rock,” he said, “Now, if I were a Dark Side User, I would get angry at the rock, or sad that I couldn’t lift the rock, or afraid of the consequences if I couldn’t lift the rock, and use the Force instinctively to throw the rock away from me.Dark side Users are often much more powerful, but sacrifice control. However, as a Light Side User, I have practiced for years to use the Force consciously. What was once purely instinct is now just like another muscle I can use on demand.”</p><p>He floated the rock a few inches above his palm, and then let it drift away and settle in the hand of one of the younger CTs attending the talk. The man looked at it in wonder.</p><p>“It’s much like your heartbeat,” he decided to draw a comparison, “Without training, your heart will beat automatically. However, with training and practice, you can regulate the speed of your heartbeat, making it something you can consciously change if necessary.”</p><p>There were thoughtful nods, but Gree raised his hand.</p><p>“And the Living and Unifying you mentioned?” He asked, reading from a datapad in his lap.</p><p>Was he taking notes? Well. This lecture just needed to be a good one then.</p><p>“Like I said, they have to do more with individual attunements than any conscious choice. Force Users attuned to the Living Force relate more to living things; they can make plants grow, control minds, heal injuries and some illnesses. There can be both Dark and Light Side Users attuned to the Living Force; many of the Jedi in the Agricorps and most Jedi healers, for example, are attuned to it, and much of the Sith Alchemy practiced in the past relied heavily on the Living Force.”</p><p>Alpha-17 shuddered.</p><p>Right. Ventress. Best to move on then.</p><p>“On the other hand, Force Users attuned to the Unifying Force relate more to the unseen things that hold the universe together. Electromagnetism. Gravity. Time. Dark Side Users of the Unifying Force have been known to create lightning in battle, and there are whispers in legend of entire moons or even planets being shattered by Dark Side techniques that hopefully have been lost. Light Side Unifying Users, like myself, can lift large objects comparatively easily and have a greater dexterity with manipulating objects with the Force, can sometimes also generate lightning like Master Plo, are often excellent pilots, and occasionally have precognition or foresight, or even the gift of prophecy.”</p><p>Cody blinked.</p><p>“You’re attuned to nonliving things?” He asked, “But you keep making friends with large toothy animals.”</p><p>Obi-wan smiled reminiscently.</p><p>“I myself am a Unifying Force User, but my late Master Qui-Gon Jinn was strongly attuned to the Living Force, and had a habit of picking up Pathetic Life Forms in need of help. I learned early on how to care for them and avoid getting eaten, in some cases.”</p><p>“What kind of animals?” asked Alpha suspiciously.</p><p>“Well, my personal favorites were the giganto-tooka kits, and Anakin, of course,” Obiwan remembered, “But he did once bring home a juvenile Krayt Dragon, and there were the injured Rathtars that one time, and I do believe he loved that Sarlaac plant.”</p><p>Blank stares. Was it something he had said?</p><p>...</p><p>Cody didn’t know what to think. He had attended Jango Fett’s small seminar, partly in hopes of getting useful information, and partly to keep an eye on the man. After a moderately informative talk, and then an overly philosophical guest lecture by Obi-wan, they had practiced sparring. Obi-wan had commed Ahsoka, and they had offered their services as mock opponents.</p><p>Obi-wan had an eerily good Dooku impression. Ahsoka had a really bad Ventress impression. It made the lesson interesting.</p><p>But Cody watched how gentle Jango was with his brothers, and with Obi-wan when he demonstrated with him. He refused to demonstrate at all with Ahsoka. And he did give good information; with the unorthodox team-up of Jango Fett and Obi-wan Kenobi, the lesson took most of the afternoon, and promised to be quite useful.</p><p>But Cody wasn’t sure what to think. He looked at Fett and saw the gentle way he taught the Clones, and the affection he tried to hide shining in his eyes, and thought that he had everything he ever wanted, five years ago.</p><p>He had advocated to keep Fett alive, mostly because he wanted the man to pay for what he did. And because Boba would be devastated to lose his father after he only just got the man back. And no matter his feelings on Fett, Boba was his brother and he couldn’t do that to him.</p><p>But he wasn’t expecting Fett to care for them. Sure, he knew Fett would treat them well, out of guilt if nothing else. But it hadn’t just been guilt in Fett’s eyes, when the older man thought no one was looking, it had been love; it was the same expression he made for Boba, except he made to for Grey, and Wolffe, and Gree, and Alpha, and all the other participants of the class.</p><p>Fett was Mandalorian, and their progenitor. Of course he would love them; it was a Mandalorian’s duty to love their children. Cody had just never thought about it before.</p><p>He was sitting alone, quietly, in the grasslands. He’d come here, after the lesson, to try to think.</p><p>He heard Obi-wan sit next to him, but neither spoke for some time. Cody just listened to the wind in the grass, and felt the sun on his face. If this was what the Jedi felt like, meditating, no wonder they did it so often.</p><p>“If it had been Qui-gon on that moon, by some bizarre happenstance,” Obi-wan said absently, likely also caught up in the sun and the wind, “I would be struggling.”</p><p>Cody turned that thought over in his mind for a while before replying.</p><p>“You love Qui-gon,” he said, with slight confusion, “You refer to him as your father.”</p><p>Obi-wan nodded, and gave a slight smile.</p><p>“I love him, and I do believe that he loved me,” he said, “And he did what he thought was best for me. But that doesn’t mean what he did was right.”</p><p>Cody looked at Obi-wan, finally, but Obi-wan was staring out over the grasslands, like he could see the past in the waving stalks.</p><p>“I hero-worshipped the man, you understand,” Obi-wan said quietly, “I thought he could do no wrong. Any hardship that came our way must have been my fault. It is only with time, and raising Padawans of my own, that I realized how wrong I was.”</p><p>Cody nodded. Who in the Galaxy let a child around rathtars?</p><p>“I still love him,” Obi-wan continued, still quietly, “But I don’t know if I could be around him, now.”</p><p>He understood. Cody was just so relieved that Obi-wan understood.</p><p>“... He loves us,” Cody admitted, “I’d given up on ever being treated like a person, let alone his son, and he loves us now, simply because he knows we are people.”</p><p>Obi-wan bumped him encouragingly with his shoulder. Cody reached out and wrapped his arm around Obi-wan’s shoulders and pulled him close.</p><p>“It takes a certain kind of man to be willing to even try to fix a mistake of the magnitude he has made,” Obi-wan offered, “But that doesn’t erase what he did.”</p><p>“I’m not sure what to do,” Cody admitted, softly. Obi-wan leaned against him, and wrapped his arm around Cody’s shoulders in return.</p><p>“What would you do? If it were Qui-gon who came back?” Cody asked. Obi-wan thought for a while, and then looked up.</p><p>“I’d let him know he hurt me, and that we were equals now, that I wasn’t just his Padawan anymore. I’d decide if I wanted to continue a relationship with him, and if I did, I would spend time with him on neutral ground,” he began.</p><p>A mischievous smile crossed over his face.</p><p>“I’d watch him have apoplexy when he learned I am on the Council,” Obi-wan suppressed a laugh, “He always argued with the Council, believed they were short-sighted and set in their ways.”</p><p>“You would give him a second chance?” Cody asked.</p><p>“I think I would. But, Cody, I can’t tell you to apply the same solution to your own life. You are your own person, and so am I, and so are Jango and Qui-gon, and our circumstances were so very different,” Obiwan cautioned.</p><p>“I understand,” Cody nodded, and set to thinking with his brother sitting beside him.</p><p>...</p><p>Jump snapped to attention when he saw Marshall Commander Cody walk into the 594th’s Officers Lounge.</p><p>It was a fancy name for the large area in the middle of the hastily erected Officer’s Barracks. The 594th had never been issued a Venator, so they were building a living complex for themselves from scrap metal.</p><p>It wasn’t someplace you usually saw Marshall Commanders. Or, well, any Commander that wasn’t Trig.</p><p>Brick looked up next to him, but didn’t quite come to attention. He was painting a piece of armor, and probably didn’t want to ruin the fine lines he’d painstakingly traced.</p><p>“At ease,” Commander Cody said evenly, “This isn’t an official visit.”</p><p>Jump nodded to the makeshift couch across from them, and Commander Cody sat heavily.</p><p>“Jango Fett,” He said abruptly, “Tell me about him.”</p><p>They both looked at him, and at each other.</p><p>“He’s our older brother, we call him Proto,” Jump said slowly, “He likes to watch the stars, and hunt, so long as no one gets hurt.”</p><p>“He worries about us,” Brick continued, “Constantly. But he absolutely will not accept any comfort that we don’t spin as comfort for ourselves, and not for him.”</p><p>“We’re worried about him, Commander,” Jump confessed, “He’s going to burn himself out, trying to work to make what he did right.”</p><p>“That wasn’t the parameters of his sentence,” Commander Cody frowned. Jump tilted his head in confusion.</p><p>“You... sentenced him to work with us, to right his wrongs,” he said carefully, “It sounded like indentured servitude.”</p><p>“That’s not what we meant,” Commander Cody frowned deeper, “That wasn’t how it was supposed to be interpreted.”</p><p>“Sure sounded like it,” Brick muttered.</p><p>“We meant for him to help us,” Commander Cody said, “To live with us, and work for our goals, and share in the rewards. To teach us to be Mandalorians.”</p><p>“I will admit, I’m not sure of your reasoning for that,” Jump admitted. Trig had been pretty tight lipped about the deliberation process for the trial.</p><p>Commander Cody’s shoulders hunched.</p><p>“He trained the CCs personally,” he said, “He named several of us, including me. And yes, most of us hate him for what he did, but he was- kinder, than the other trainers, and it made us hopeful.”</p><p>“You wanted him to acknowledge you,” said Jump. Commander Cody nodded.</p><p>“And then he betrayed us, and died for it, at Geonosis,” he said, “And we made our peace with that, and decided how we wanted to think of a dead man.”</p><p>Commander Cody smiled wryly.</p><p>“And then he wasn’t dead, and knows we’re people. He’s sorry. He loves us, just like we were his actual sons. We’re not sure how to deal with that,” he finished.</p><p>“I’m not sure we can help you here, Commander,” Jump said quietly.</p><p>Cody looked down.</p><p>“It’s something I have to figure out myself,” he said, “But, well, that wasn’t really what I wanted to talk to you about. I need your help for something, and hopefully it’ll help your worries about Fett too.”</p><p>...</p><p>Boba wasn’t quite sure what had happened. One minute he was having Mando’a lessons with Kenobi, and the next he was waking up on the floor of a dingy cargo hold to a maniacally laughing Weequay.</p><p>“Kenobi’s ransom will be mine!” He exclaimed dramatically.</p><p>Kenobi, in the cell next to him, groaned both from waking up and probably the sheer cliche of the line.</p><p>“Really, Hondo?” He asked, putting his hand to his forehead, “I thought you had given up. Failing that, I thought you were more original.”</p><p>“I shall never give up!” Hands said, waving theatrically, and possibly a bit drunkenly, “And you have no respect for the classics!”</p><p>Kenobi groaned again, and then noticed Boba next to him.</p><p>“Boba, are you all right?” He asked, concerned. Kenobi was quite the worry wart.</p><p>“I’m fine,” he grumbled, “Did you really have to kidnap me too, Hondo?”</p><p>“I need a hostage!” Hondo gestured, “And none of the other members of his family make good hostages. Too violent.”</p><p>“I’m a Mandalorian,” Boba deadpanned.</p><p>“You are adorable!” Hondo gestured through the open door of Boba’s cell.</p><p>Boba punched him in the face. After a brief scuffle, a blasting noise came from the distance.</p><p>“That was fast,” Hondo murmured, with Boba in a headlock. The door to the cell complex they were in blew open.</p><p>“Where is he!” Roared... Dad?</p><p>Boba had forgotten how scary Dad could be when he was mad. He didn’t have any armor on, but he still seemed like the Mandalorian berserkers of old.</p><p>“You seem familiar,” Hondo said, still wrestling with Boba, “Do I know you?”</p><p>Dad picked Hondo up by his collar and snarled in his face.</p><p>“What gives you the right to manhandle my son?” He asked.</p><p>Hondo blinked, looked from Dad to Boba and back, and then smiled widely. And then started to cry.</p><p>“Jango, my friend! I thought you were dead!” He threw his arms around Dad, whose face switched from anger to confusion faster than Skywalker’s flying.</p><p>“Hondo?” Dad questioned, “Why are you trying to kidnap my son?”</p><p>“He’s such a good boy! He’s an awful hostage, just like you!” Hondo wailed. Dad patted him on the back reluctantly, and looked to Kenobi for an explanation.</p><p>“Hondo is bound and determined to ransom me to the Jedi Council. He likes taking hostages to ensure my good behavior, after the first fifteen times I escaped,” Kenobi explained.</p><p>Dad nodded, and opened the cell Kenobi was in. Hondo was still hanging off him and wailing melodramatically, and decided to cling to Kenobi as well. Kenobi and Dad eyed each other awkwardly.</p><p>Boba decided to take a surreptitious step back, to try to avoid being included in the unwilling group hug. Dad caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and looked at him flatly.</p><p>That’s when Skywalker ran in, with Kenobi’s Commanders right behind him. Skywalker skidded to a confused stop, Alpha-17 right behind him. Cody simply slowed down, and walked past his brothers to stand in front of the group hug and cross his arms.</p><p>“Trying out new Kenobi-containing measures?” He asked archly. Boba sniggered. Kenobi just looked embarrassed.</p><p>“We must celebrate!” Hondo had stopped crying, and had regained his usual enthusiasm, “My friend is alive!”</p><p>He abruptly let go of Dad and Kenobi, who each stepped quickly out of hugging range, and made to grab Cody. Cody jumped back, and Hondo pouted, before brightening again.</p><p>“This calls for our best vintage!” He proclaimed, “I must invite you to dinner!”</p><p>Dad stepped back until he was beside Boba.</p><p>“You can eat what you want,” he said quietly, “But don’t drink anything he gives you, or you will regret it.”</p><p>...</p><p>Jango was still a bit hungover from Hondo’s feast when Cody visited again. Quite a feat, as Hondo had left the planet three days before.</p><p>He made to get up as the younger man came through the door, but Cody gestured for him to sit down.</p><p>“It has come to my attention that you aren’t quite within the parameters of your parole,” Cody said quietly.</p><p>Jango blinked at the other man in confusion. He’d been doing his best to perform his punishment, both to make amends to his Clones and to be able to stay alive to raise Boba.</p><p>“You aren’t wearing our clothes,” Cody pointed out.</p><p>Jango looked down at the standard-issue blacks that were persistently too long in the leg. The shirts fit him a bit oddly as well, but were more manageable.</p><p>“Armor,” Cody spelled out for him.</p><p>“I don’t deserve armor,” Jango replied, “Especially not your brothers’ armor.”</p><p>Cody looked at him seriously, and sat across from him.</p><p>“I don’t think you understand the reason we kept you alive,” he said.</p><p>Jango looked at him.</p><p>“It’s not to pay your debt. There is no way you can make what you did right,” Cody said, and Jango’s shoulders slumped without his permission, “But we have a lot of things we need to know, and you need a place and a people.”</p><p>Jango couldn’t possibly be hearing him right, but he couldn’t keep the spark of hope from igniting.</p><p>“I can’t be one of you,” he said, “I can’t be, after what I did. I’m outcast.”</p><p>“We will not develop outcast traditions in our people,” Cody said sharply, “That’s a conscious choice we have made. We were outcast ourselves, to the Republic; no one wanted us. You are not outcast. You’ll work with us and live with us, and one day you will become one of us. You made us, and gave us to a Republic that didn’t think of us as people; you’re registered as one of us, now, a not-person as well, and you will help us make a place for ourselves. That’s the decision we made.”</p><p>That... was nothing like justice on Mandalore. He supposed that there had never been a situation like this on Mandalore either.</p><p>“Demagolka are forbidden beskar’gam (4),” he said, quietly. Not that he didn’t want it. He missed his armor, achingly.</p><p>Cody gave him a self-deprecatory smile.</p><p>“Does this look like beskar to you?” He asked, tapping his plastoid bracer.</p><p>“Are you sure?” Jango couldn’t help himself from asking.</p><p>“You love us,” Cody said quietly, “I can tell. I’m sure.”</p><p>Jango could only nod. They were his sons, by one sense of the word. Of course he would love them, not that he had a right to.</p><p>He needed to tell Cody something.</p><p>“I never thought of you as a pet,” he tried, “You were my student, my protege. Even if the other trainers insisted differently. You and your brothers, even with my mistakes and sins against you, are a better legacy to Jaster Mereel than I could ever be.”</p><p>Cody looked at him with unreadable eyes.</p><p>“That means something,” he replied, “Thank you for that.”</p><p>They sat in somewhat awkward silence for a minute, then Cody rose from his seat.</p><p>“Come on,” Cody gestured, “Let’s get you kitted up.”</p><p>Jango followed Cody to one of the painting rooms aboard the Minstrel of the Dawn. He was surprised to see a group of people waiting for him: Array Squad, and the Clones from the Moon.</p><p>They really needed to find a better name for themselves.</p><p>Everyone looked excited, Jango couldn’t tell why. On a low table was a set of armor, white plastoid gleaming against the paint-splattered workspace.</p><p>His armor. The thought was a strange one; his armor was blue and silver, and lost to him. Whoever sold him to the Trandoshans probably melted it and sold it for the beskar.</p><p>The thought was painful. His Buir had given him that armor.</p><p>He focused on the table in front of him, and the expectant faces turned toward him.</p><p>The armor was not completely white, as he first thought. There was a sharp grey mythosaur on each spaulder, like the ones his Buir and Vode in the Haat’Ade (5) wore.</p><p>On his rerebrace (6) was a series of lines that mimicked his tattoo, painted in a lighter, silvery shade of grey, dappled with orange, like the fur Brick and Jump had made him wear when hunting. He looked at Brick, and Jump, and the others, and they all had their own tattoos painted on.</p><p>The tattoos had seemed pitiful to him, just outlines of diamonds, nothing like the intricate, full tattoos Myles could do, but Jango knew he was no artist. Their bearers obviously treasured them anyway, painting them on their armor in the dappled oranges and greys of the furs they had worn.</p><p>Jango turned his attention to his own armor, and ran his fingers over the paint gently. Grey for mourning. Silver for repentance. Orange for living life. He knew the colors were accidental, but they weren’t unfitting.</p><p>“Spaulders are for legion,” Redsun said timidly, “And Boba told us about your legion, and your dad. Vambraces and rerebraces are for squad and other family.”</p><p>“Helmets are for achievements or personal likes and dislikes,” Destrier continued, “Chestplates are for friends, and greaves and cuisses (7) are for places you’ve been. Couters (8) and poleyns (9) are for personal symbols.”</p><p>“Do you want to paint any more?” Boba asked hopefully.</p><p>Jango looked at the armor and shook his head.</p><p>“It’s perfect like it is,” he said, and started gently buckling it on.</p><p>The plastoid gleamed white when he had finished, and he couldn’t help associating it with armor painted white, with cin vhetin (10). It wasn’t the same, he knew, he could never allow himself to forget what he had done. It was the least he could do for the men he could not call his sons, who would never forget what he had done no matter how much they wanted to.</p><p>But it was a new beginning. And perhaps, this time, he could make a better life for others, as well as himself.</p><p>A place and a people. What a wondrous thing.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mando’a: family<br/>2. Mando’a: Sith, or other darksiders <br/>3. Mando’a: rear end<br/>4. Mando’a: literally, ‘iron skin,’ but refers to armor<br/>5. Mando’a: short for Haat’Mando’ade, the True Mandalorians<br/>6. The armor on the upper arm<br/>7. The armor on the upper leg<br/>8. Elbow covers<br/>9. Knee covers<br/>10. Mando’a: blank slate, new beginnings. The Mandalorians have a tradition that anything you have done before you were Mandalorian doesn’t matter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. The Jungle Book</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alpha-42 likes to tell stories.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have a soft spot for Dad Alphas, can you tell?</p><p>Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alpha-42 was at his wit’s end. He had been trying to get his kids to learn tactics for two hours now, and it just wasn’t working.</p><p>“What kind of ambush is ideal for a small number of enemy concentrated closely together?” He tried to drill.</p><p>‘45 raised his hand tentatively.</p><p>“Area ambush?” He asked more than said.</p><p>It took all of Alpha-42’s training not to let his shoulders slump.</p><p>“No,” he sighed, “That’s for multiple attack sites at once. Point ambush is the correct answer.”</p><p>‘45 looked chastised. Next to him, ‘22 was fidgeting.</p><p>They were all fidgeting. It had been two hours, and they were four. He didn’t correct them. So long as they didn’t fidget in class, they could wiggle all they wanted when it was safe.</p><p>This wasn’t working. Two hours of reading out of the dry as dust tactical manual and it hadn’t made a dent. He looked at the manual and sighed again. No wonder they were having a hard time concentrating on the planning considerations for an enemy ambush. It was a dry as dust list, filled with military jargon. And, well, they were four.</p>
<ol>
<li>“1. Cover the entire kill zone by fire.</li>
<li>2. Consider the METT-TC: mission, enemy, terrain, troops available, time, and civilian consideration.</li>
<li>3. Use existing or reinforcing obstacles to keep the enemy in the kill zone.</li>
<li>4. Security teams are typically equipped with hand held Antitank weapons or claymores.
</li>
<li>5. Protect the assault and support elements with mines, claymores, or explosives.</li>
<li>6. Use security elements or teams to isolate the kill zone.</li>
<li>7. Assault into the kill zone to search dead and wounded, assemble prisoners, and collect equipment. The assault element must be able to move quickly through its own protective obstacles.</li>
<li>8. Time the actions of all elements of the platoon to preclude loss of surprise.</li>
<li>9. When the ambush must be manned for a long time, use only one squad to</li>
</ol><p>conduct the entire ambush and determining movement time of rotating squads from the ORP to the ambush site.” (1)</p><p>No wonder the kids weren’t getting it.</p><p>“Alright,” he sighed, “New tactic.”</p><p>He sent the kids off to get changed into their sleeping clothes, to try to buy himself time to think up something.</p><p>Maybe an outline of a past mission? A practical example?</p><p>He had pretty much hashed everything out by the time the kids came back and resettled around him on the floor.</p><p>“Alright, you little menaces,” he sighed, “A commando was leading a wilderness mission in a forest with a lot of hills.”</p><p>“What was his number?” Asked ‘95 interestedly.</p><p>Interest. That was new.</p><p>“‘42,” he replied, mostly by rote, “‘42 saw a group of enemy approaching, so he hid really quickly with the squad he was leading.”</p><p>“Where’d he hide?” Asked ‘86.</p><p>“Behind a tree,” 42 sighed.</p><p>“Why not in a bush?” Asked ‘86 again.</p><p>“He was too big,” 42 was resigned to interruption at this point. At least they were engaged with the lesson.</p><p>“Is he a grown up or something?” Asked ‘64 grumpily, “We always hear about grown-ups.”</p><p>42 made a snap decision. If it would keep his kids engaged, the hypothetical commando could be their age.</p><p>“No, he was a Little, like you,” he said, “But the only bushes were ankle-high, not good for anyone to hide in.”</p><p>‘64 nodded contentedly.</p><p>“The enemy was preventing him from completing his objective,” 42 continued, “So he needed to get them out of the way. He decided to do a point ambush.”</p><p>Little eyes widened.</p><p>“But he needed to plan first,” 42 added on hastily, “He needed to think about the METT-TC. What’s the first letter?”</p><p>“Mission,” replied ‘36 shyly.</p><p>“Right!” 42 pointed at 36, “His mission was recon, but he needed to get around the enemy to do it. Next letter?”</p><p>“Enemy?” ‘72 tried.</p><p>“Good,” 42 nodded, “The enemy was between him and his mission, and was armed with... their sidearms and light rifles, but they hadn’t noticed him yet. There were twelve of them. Next?”</p><p>“Troops available?” ‘64 asked more than told.</p><p>“Not quite, kid,” 42 said absently, “That’s the next one. Terrain is the answer, and the terrain was forested and hilly. For troops, he had six men. Next letter?”</p><p>“Time,” offered ‘45.</p><p>“Good. He had an hour before he needed to be at his objective,” 42 arbitrarily made up, “Next?”</p><p>“Civilians,” ‘36 said again.</p><p>“Luckily, there were none,” 42 agreed. He resettled himself, and continued.</p><p>“So. He needed to trap the enemy in the kill zone. He decided to split his team into two elements: assault and support. He put four for assault, and two for support. The enemy was in a valley, so he decided to use the terrain to his advantage, and sent each team up on a hill. Assault was in front of the enemy, while support went to their left flank,” 42 said, “And they attacked while they still had the element of surprise. They made sure the entire kill zone was covered, and the security team made sure no other enemy came to help.”</p><p>He hated that he had to teach the kids this, but it would keep them alive later. Alive was the important bit.</p><p>“One enemy tried to charge the assault team, but they kept him away with a grenade,” 42 said, trying to run down the points of the list in his head, “And then the assault team made a raid to the enemy and stole all their weapons and searched their armor.”</p><p>“Did they find anything?” Asked ‘22.</p><p>Might as well have the lesson end well.</p><p>“They found a holomap of the enemy’s position,” nodded 42, “And some ammunition. Commando 42 completed his mission and was commended for the extra information he gathered.”</p><p>“Whoah,” breathed ‘45.</p><p>The kids were still staring at him, 42 didn’t know why. He clapped his hands, and they jumped.</p><p>“Alright!” He announced, “Off to bed!”</p><p>There were assembled mutters and groans, but the kids started to pick themselves up and climb to their sleeping tubes.</p><p>‘36 stayed behind. Unusual. He wasn’t generally one of the bedtime rebels.</p><p>“Bed,” 42 repeated. ‘36 nodded, but hesitated to climb the ladder. He walked over to 42 and tugged on 42’s Kama, like 42 wasn’t already paying attention to him.</p><p>“Will we hear more about ‘42 the Little Commando tomorrow?” He asked, turning big eyes up to 42.</p><p>42 pretended not to notice the sets of eyes turned on him from various open berth tubes across the dorm.</p><p>“If you’re good,” he decided, “And go to sleep right away, and pay attention in flash training in the morning.”</p><p>‘36 nodded eagerly and scampered up the ladder. 42 had never seen the sleeping tubes close so fast in his life.</p><p>Well. He looked down at the tactics manual in his hand.</p><p>He guessed he needed to start working on the lesson for tomorrow.</p><p>...</p><p>The kids were going to start lessons with Fett in the morning. That was all that was going through Alpha-42’s mind. The kids were going to train with Prime.</p><p>Their schedule would shift massively. Their flash-training was mostly over, now they would be physically trained, interspersed with actual class work.</p><p>And they wouldn’t have time for stories anymore, they needed all he sleep they could get, looking at the schedule in front of him.</p><p>Alpha sighed. Nothing for it. He’d miss the stories, spending time with his kids, but they wouldn’t need him anymore, not with Prime training them.</p><p>But tonight, he supposed, they had time for one last story. He also had a group of eager little eyes looking at him.</p><p>Though they weren’t so little anymore, they were starting to shoot up like weeds.</p><p>Alpha maintained that his kids would still be little even if by some fluke of genetic engineering they ended up taller than him, kark it.</p><p>So he wove them one more story. He’d realized, a while back, that they were stories, like Jango told Boba. The thought was a great comfort to him, that he could give the kids at least a little something of what kids deserved.</p><p>It was a story of ‘42 leaving his home base, being reassigned to a new one where he could be more tactically significant. How the promotion didn’t feel like one, how ‘42 was lonely and missed his brothers. How the officers at the new base disliked him, and how the brothers there were closed off.</p><p>He might as well prepare them for what was coming. But he wanted to give them hope, too, so he switched his tone to a lighter one, and talked about ‘42’s command.</p><p>“They were good men, intelligent, loyal,” he said, “Strong. And they were reserved at first, like anyone is when they meet a brother they do not know, but they welcomed him in the ranks when he proved to them that he would be a good leader.”</p><p>There was a surprise attack on the base, he continued, when ‘42’s new squad were out training. When they got back, they learned that valuable intel had been captured. ‘42 heroically led his squad to recapture the intel and execute a counter strike on the enemy base.</p><p>Alpha always enjoyed this point of the story, when the kid’s eyes grew wide and they stopped asking questions in favor of listening. They used to look at him like that all the time when they were little and knowing how to put on your greaves properly was cool. Now he had to work harder. So he wove the story the best he knew how, and enjoyed being with his kids for a while longer.</p><p>‘42 and his team succeeded, of course. They always did. No need to get the kids discouraged, that wasn’t what stories were supposed to be for. Alpha wrapped up the story on a triumphant note; ‘42 and his squad return to the base as heroes, and start to help rebuild.</p><p>He took one more moment to enjoy sitting with his kids, and then nodded.</p><p>“Lights out in five,” he told them, “Early day tomorrow.”</p><p>He watched them fondly as they scrambled for their bunks, and turned out the light when they were all tucked in.</p><p>He would miss them, he knew already. But he had to let them go.</p><p>...</p><p>Alpha-42 wasn’t quite sure if he was dreaming or not. At least it was a nice dream.</p><p>Somehow, apparently, Wolffe’s sister had heard of his storytelling hobby, probably from Akela.</p><p>He had a grandson. And Wolffe wanted to be around him. If this was a dream, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to wake up.</p><p>He was moderately confused, though, when the Tholothian Jedi Padawan claiming to be Wolffe’s sister showed up at his door and dragged him to a group of Littles.</p><p>“I’m told you tell good stories,” she said to him, with an iron grip on his wrist to ensure he didn’t flee.</p><p>He nodded, somewhat hesitantly.</p><p>“Tell us one about Wolffe,” she prodded, “When he was a Little.”</p><p>The kids perked up. Was that Akela, in the eye patch? Good, he was finally starting to wear one.</p><p>“Alright,” He said, “Did Wolffe ever tell you about how he got his name?”</p><p>A sea of interested gazes shook their heads. He was taken back to that first story, it seemed so long ago now. He forced himself to relax; these kids would never be forced to learn tactics too early.</p><p>“Well,” he started, “It may be a surprise to you, but Wolffe was not always grumpy.”</p><p>There were exaggerated denials and giggles all around. Katooni, the Padawan, smiled into her hand. Well, off to a good start.</p><p>“One day, back when he was still ‘36, he was training with the rest of his squad,” Alpha continued, “And a Kaminoan came up behind him and grabbed him, suddenly.”</p><p>Gasps. The kids knew Kaminoans grabbing you was bad news.</p><p>“So ‘36 bit him,” Alpha said reassuringly, “And the Kaminoan let go, and had to go to medical, so he couldn’t bother Wolffe anymore.”</p><p>That Kaminoan had lost his arm. Alpha still couldn’t help feeling a little smug about that. Teaches the karker to try and grab Alpha’s kid.</p><p>“Jango Fett had seen the whole thing,” Alpha continued, “And decided that ‘36 was ferocious, and deserved a name for his bravery. So he named him Wolf, like the Loth-Wolves of Lothal, who are always brave and loyal and have very sharp teeth.”</p><p>“But why is he grumpy?” Asked one Little.</p><p>“That’s what I’m getting to,” Alpha winked, “The Kaminoan tasted so bad that his face screwed up, like you do when you lick a sour fruit. And then it just stayed that way!”</p><p>The Littles started to giggle. What was a surprise was the laugh of an adult man behind him, a man who wasn’t a Clone.</p><p>He jerked around quickly, to see a Kel Dor man standing in the doorway laughing. Wolffe’s General, his buir.</p><p>Alpha snapped to attention, but the General merely gestured for him to go at ease.</p><p>“You have quite the gift for storytelling, Alpha,” he said warmly.</p><p>Alpha could only nod, and shrug hesitantly.</p><p>“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” the Jedi continued, “I am Master Plo Koon, pleased to meet you.”</p><p>“Alpha-42,” Alpha said, “Likewise.”</p><p>“Would you like to share latemeal with us in the officer’s mess?” Koon indicated Akela, who had attached himself to the Jedi’s leg while they were talking. Alpha nodded. It was nice not to eat alone.</p><p>Akela detached himself from Koon’s lag and half-dragged Alpha to the mess with Koon.</p><p>Wolffe was there, and smiled when he saw Koon and Akela. He turned the same smile on Alpha, and something in Alpha warmed.</p><p>“Alpha!” He called, “This is Sinker, Comet, and Boost!”</p><p>Alpha nodded at the three troopers indicated, and sat a little uncertainly. Akela sat next to him, and tugged him on the arm.</p><p>“Do you have any more stories of when Buir was a Cadet?” He asked innocently.</p><p>Alpha gave a small smile, caught in memories, which grew when he saw Wolffe freeze.</p><p>“Oh, boy, do I have stories of Wolffe’s childhood,” he said, “Did you know-“</p><p>“I think I’ll regret introducing you,” Wolffe cut him off, but his smile made it very clear that he didn’t regret it one bit.</p><p>Alpha didn’t either. This was better than any dream.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Source: https://www.shu.edu/rotc/upload/Ranger-Handbook.pdf, modified and adapted to contain less acronyms and be more readable, and also to try to make it Star Wars compatible. Could you do me a favor and just assume Star Wars has claymore mines?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. A Day in the Life of Fox</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fox probably needs a vacation.<br/>Scratch that probably.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have been infected with Alpha feels. Also, haven’t written anything for the Guard for ages.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fox groaned as he hit the alarm, and rolled out of bed. Trouble waited for no one, not even overtired Guard Commanders.</p><p>He dressed in new blacks sleepily and shuffled to the fresher. Shaving took only a short time, but his hair took longer. It looked a little ridiculous in the mirror, with the shorter sides sticking straight out and the longer top trying to get in his eyes. He carefully put just the right amount of styling gel in his hair, parted on his top right side just where the two differing lengths of hair met, and carefully combed the hair back, adding two waves carefully as he went (1).</p><p>Thorn liked to tease him for his old-fashioned hair, but he just didn’t feel right if it was out of place. And, well, Riyo liked it, so what did Thorn know?</p><p>He put on his armor and traced the gentle swirls of paint on his bracers. Now that they were not in Coruscant, many of the Guard had begun to customize their armor, like the fighting battalions did. Fox had asked Stone to paint them, in the swirling designs that his brother was excellent at doing.</p><p>Lastly, gently, he put on his courtship necklace. Riyo had carved it for him while they were staying at her mother’s farmstead out of some deadfall from the fruit trees. It was a small, triangular fox head, strung on one of Riyo’s shoelaces.</p><p>It was one of the most precious things he owned.</p><p>He braced himself, and opened the door. Nothing jumped at him, which was an improvement on yesterday. He carefully checked both ways before walking into the corridor, and started to make his way to the mess hall.</p><p>It was quiet. Too quiet. He was suspicious.</p><p>A crash sounded from down the hallway. Fox’s suspicions were confirmed. He sighed, and resigned himself to a late firstmeal.</p><p>By the time he made it to the site of the commotion, admittedly not very quickly as he didn’t really want to know, the only sign of misdeed was someone taped to the ceiling. Their face was covered by fabric, and it sounded like they were gagged, but from what little Fox could see of their armor that wasn’t hidden by the tape it was a Clone.</p><p>He sighed, and retrieved a stepping stool.</p><p>“Hold still,” he ordered the Ceiling Clone, and cut the fabric off. On closer inspection, it was part of a Jedi robe.</p><p>Vos. Of course.</p><p>Ceiling Clone turned out to be Thire, who resumed struggling and trying to speak through the gag once his blindfold was off.</p><p>“What did you do this time?” Fox asked resignedly.</p><p>“Mph!” Thire replied.</p><p>He was much more tractable with the gag on, Fox mused. So he turned his attention to Thire’s legs, and carefully cut him off the ceiling until he was dangling from his hands.</p><p>The tape on Thire’s hands gave suddenly under the strain of supporting all of weight, and Thire dropped to the floor with a muffled sound that was probably a swear. As soon as he regained his footing, he removed the gag.</p><p>“You kriffer!” He pointed at Fox.</p><p>“Do I want to know what happened?” Fox sighed, and started making his way back toward the mess hall. Thire trailed behind, gesturing wildly.</p><p>“It was completely unprovoked!” He railed, “I haven’t done anything to him for a week!”</p><p>“Oh, so it was Tate who dyed him red?” Fox blinked. He had been sure that was Thire’s work.</p><p>“No, that was supposed to be for Tate,” Thire frowned, “That might explain why I woke up taped to the ceiling, though.”</p><p>“It might,” Fox groused, and entered the doors of the mess hall. Alpha-34 was waiting for him at their usual table, so he split from his fellow Commander and headed toward his Alpha.</p><p>“Good morning, Buir,” he greeted, as was his habit. Alpha, who had seen him walk in with Thire, who was still covered in flimsitape, raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“They started already, did they?” He asked, and handed Fox a warm ration pack and a cup of caf.</p><p>“Thank you,” Fox breathed, and stared at the caf for a full minute before taking a long sip. Alpha patted his shoulder sympathetically.</p><p>“Tate looked much too smug this morning, and Vos, well, he’s Vos,” Alpha said sympathetically. Fox nodded along, and leaned against Alpha’s shoulder for a moment. Alpha slung his arm over Fox’s shoulders and squeezed.</p><p>He also glared at anyone trying to approach them. Alpha had taken on the job of making sure Fox ate, according to him, and took it very seriously. People weren’t allowed to bother Fox during firstmeal or latemeal anymore.</p><p>It was a lot easier to do paperwork if his stomach wasn’t trying to crawl out of his ribcage from hunger, though.</p><p>He finished his firstmeal, talked with Alpha a little longer, and then bid goodbye with a wave and a smile to do paperwork.</p><p>Somehow, that was the one constant in his life. No matter where he was or what he was doing, there was definitely a pile of flimsi somewhere that he needed to fill out and sign.</p><p>It seemed like forever until midmeal, when Thire, Thorn, and Stone trooped in for the midmeal meeting. Fox spared a moment to wonder at how Thire was now de-taped entirely. It must have taken forever to get it all off his armor without the adhesive sticking.</p><p>Midmeal meeting was boring, as usual. The looms were starting to run out of yarn, so Fox set a couple divisions to deriving an alternative from the fibrous grasses outside. Tate had been learning to spin fibers from Yma Chuchi, and had noticed that some of the grass shared similar qualities with the plants he was processing to make yarn.</p><p>Fox just hoped they didn’t itch.</p><p>After midmeal meeting, Fox did his workout regimen with one of the Cadet squads. His Lieutenant Commanders had been pestering him to engage more with the kids, and at least if he was running with them they wouldn’t try to amuse themselves by asking him awkward questions.</p><p>Though the squad who had asked him where natborns came from had gotten much more than they had bargained for. He wasn’t sure who had been more dismayed, himself on having to explain it or the squad once they understood it.</p><p>They were good kids, the Cadets, he thought as he ran with them. He was so glad they were off Kamino.</p><p>After some calisthenics, he switched squads to run some more. He was an adult, he could run further than the Cadets the size of fifteen year olds, so he split time evenly between two squads each afternoon. After he finished his workout, and had a quick sonic shower, he went back to paperwork until Alpha knocked significantly on his door and gestured that it was time for dinner.</p><p>They ate with Thorn, Thire, Stone, Vos, and Tate, and the conversation eventually turned to adventures each of them had had.</p><p>“It was as big as a house!” Vos insisted, referring to a monster he claimed to have tamed on one of his missions.</p><p>“I will be impressed when you can tame Thire,” Fox snarked.</p><p>“I’ll be impressed when he can tame himself,” Alpha added.</p><p>“I’m wounded!” Vos clutched his chest theatrically, and almost impaled Stone on his spoon in the process.</p><p>It was a good thing everyone was wearing armor. Sitting next to Vos could be hazardous. He was too used to eating with Jedi, who could dodge any wayward eating utensils.</p><p>Dinner continued merrily, but eventually everyone drifted away to their bunks. Eventually, it was only Alpha and Fox left.</p><p>Though Fox highly doubted Thire was actually in his bed, like he said he’d be. The other Commander had swiped a bottle of dish fluid and had discreetly headed toward Vos’s quarters.</p><p>Fox sat in comfortable silence with his Buir for a while, eating a couple of pieces of fresh fruit. Alpha looked a bit preoccupied, and played with the peel of his meiloorun for a while before speaking.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking of a name. Can you help me test it out?” he asked lowly.</p><p>Fox looked up from his own meiloorun in curiosity.</p><p>“What is it?” He asked. Alpha hadn’t mentioned wanting a name before.</p><p>“Corsac (2),” Alpha said quietly.</p><p>Fox smiled, touched.</p><p>“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'buir (3), Corsac,” he said, just as quietly.</p><p>Alpha, Corsac, smiled at him, his eyes shining slightly in the night-cycle lights.</p><p>“Thank you, Fox’ika,” he said, with a small wobble in his voice.</p><p>“Anytime, Buir,” Fox replied. They walked together back to Fox’s room, and hugged before they split for the night.</p><p>Fox couldn’t help but smile. His Buir had a name!</p><p>He carefully stripped his armor off and put it on its rack, except for his bracer. He tapped in a set of contact information, and waited for the recipient to pick up.</p><p>“Fox!” Riyo said delightedly, “I was worried you wouldn’t have time tonight.”</p><p>She was dressed in her sleepwear, with a simple robe on top. On Coruscant, it was early morning, so she would be getting up to start her day around now.</p><p>“I was just talking with Alpha, Riyo,” Fox felt his face split in a grin again, “He’s picking a name!”</p><p>Riyo smiled back, delighted.</p><p>“That’s amazing!” She said, “Tell me as soon as he decides, I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night.”</p><p>“He’d never forgive me if I woke you up on his account,” Fox shook his head, “Some days I think he likes you better than me!”</p><p>“He doesn’t,” Riyo shook her head, deadpan.</p><p>“How would you know?” Fox teased, “He never hesitated to wake me up in the middle of the night.”</p><p>“Call it intuition,” Riyo teased back, “And also that he repainted his armor red while he was here.”</p><p>Well, that was true. He looked down in pleased embarrassment, but quickly looked up again to begin to talk again. He wanted to spend every moment he could with her.</p><p>They talked about nothing in particular for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. Riyo told him some of the news from her home: Yma, apparently, had bought a new nuna bird, and it kept pestering the other ones.</p><p>“If that nuna is not careful,” she laughed, “It’ll end up as nuna soup!”</p><p>Eventually, however, Riyo had to get ready for a Senate meeting, and Fox needed to sleep if he was to deal with his brothers in the morning with any sense of equilibrium. It was too soon, but then again, it was always too soon.</p><p>“Good night, sweetheart,” Riyo wished him, like she always did. It was their little routine, and somehow was more of a comfort to Fox than he had really expected.</p><p>“Good day, cyare (4),” Fox replied, “Only another month and a half until we can see each other in person.”</p><p>Actually, one month, one tenday, and three days. Not that Fox was counting.</p><p>“I can’t wait,” Riyo grinned, and Fox took in the sight of her lovely smile before the call ended.</p><p>He gently held his courtship necklace in his hand for a little while, wishing he could hold her hand, before sighing and slipping into bed.</p><p>Best not to delay bedtime too long. It was another busy day tomorrow.</p><p>He smiled at the thought.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. The style I am trying to describe is a wave hairstyle, from the 1940s. It’s a more involved style, but just seems like something Fox would wear for some reason. Visual reference: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/286682332513297039/<br/>2. A type of small fox from Central Asia and Mongolia. <br/>3. Mando’a: ‘I know your name as my parent,’ a modification of the adoption vow. <br/>4. Mando’a: beloved</p><p>As always, comments are loved!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mandalorians? At a peace conference? It’s more likely than you’d think.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Beginning to move forward, and also to introduce the ghost crew! Featuring a few Disney characters I liked, and a Legends character that deserved better.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Obi-wan wouldn’t lie, he had never expected that this would be a reality. If you had asked him five years ago, he would have said that this was impossible.</p>
<p>But here he was, standing beside a delegation of natborns and Clones, waiting for the New Mandalorian and Nite Owl delegations to arrive to peace talks on Dantooine. It was three years after the foundation of the Enclave.</p>
<p>He would specifically be assigned to greet the New Mandalorians, due to past relations he had had with them. Kit had snickered when Mace had said that.</p>
<p>Something else he had never thought would happen; the Council teasing him about his love life. He wasn’t sure if he enjoyed that part.</p>
<p>Standing next to him were Cody and Zatt, in freshly polished armor and pressed robes. He had finally convinced Cody to start wearing some of the Jedi robes, in the configuration that many Jedi had begun to use; wearing the chestplate and other upper body armor on top of the layered inner tunics, and the lower body armor on top of the trousers but below the tunics, with an outer robe on top.</p>
<p>Cody had resisted until the Enclave had started to run out of blacks. Being Republic issue, and thus manufactured by the lowest bidder, blacks were not sturdy enough to stand up to hard training over time, let alone missions. The plant-fiber robes and tunics of the Jedi were harder-wearing.</p>
<p>Rex had begun to wear robes as well. Alpha was the last holdout of their little family, but they were working on him.</p>
<p>The New Mandalorian ship set down in front of them, and the ramp lowered. A procession of ornately adorned figures exited; the first being two ceremonial guards, then the Prime Minister, and then- Satine.</p>
<p>She looked beautiful as ever, to Obi-wan, with light ornamentation in her hair and a simpler dress than she wore to the Senate. She was probably trying to be respectful to the Jedi’s more ascetic tastes, which he found to be a good sign. Her hoverchair glided down the ramp at a steady pace, and when she reached the bottom, Obi-wan and the rest of the Jedi delegation bowed, and the New Mandalorians touched their foreheads in respect in return.</p>
<p>“Master Kenobi,” Satine said evenly, “It is lovely to see you again, and in much better circumstances than last time.”</p>
<p>Obi-wan winced. Maul had nearly killed Satine, when he last saw her. The Sith was the reason why this vivacious woman was confined to a hoverchair.</p>
<p>Obi-wan was just glad she was alive; there were a horrifying few minutes where he thought she had passed. Having her in front of him, talking, even in a hoverchair, was vastly preferable.</p>
<p>“Indeed,” he replied, “I am your diplomatic liaison, for your visit; we have prepared showcases of our culture for you to enjoy in the two days before the talks start, in hopes of introducing you to our people. This is my Padawan, Zatt Morness, and my brother, Commander Cody Ta'raysh-E'tad.”</p>
<p>Satine nodded, but said nothing. Obi-wan put her being so withdrawn down to discomfiture at the armor the Jedi were wearing, but she wasn’t hostile, so he merely gestured for her to follow them and led them to the visitors quarters that the Jedi, Natborn and Clone alike, had assembled for diplomatic occasions.</p>
<p>They were simple, as diplomatic quarters went, and rather forbidding from the outside. But the insides were carpeted, and the walls were painted with murals of both Clone and Jedi origin, and overall they had been built as luxuriously as was possible in the rather spartan atmosphere of the Enclave.</p>
<p>Satine glided beside him as they walked. He enjoyed her company, for as long as he was allowed.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Cody was startled, when Satine spoke.</p>
<p>“It is truly lovely to see that your commitment to peace is just pretty words,” she said mildly, “I can only wonder what else you are willing to sacrifice for your own gain?”</p>
<p>Obi-wan startled.</p>
<p>“Pardon me?” He asked, weakly. Cody noticed his distress and started to drift closer.</p>
<p>“It’s a lovely little military base you have here,” Satine continued, “And yet you claim that you seek the end of a generational war. I see a conflict of interest between what you say, and where you live.”</p>
<p>“The Venators are retrofitted for habitation! They are not fitted for war anymore!” Obi-wan tried to rebut, “And the orbital fleet cannot land, we keep them there for a strictly defensive purpose!”</p>
<p>“And yet you wear armor in a supposed place of peace,” Satine said bluntly. Obi-wan floundered. Cody felt the need to step in.</p>
<p>“People keep shooting at him,” he said cooly, “Sucking chest wounds are inconvenient. My legion gave him that armor as a token of our greatest respect, and of our affection for him. He wears it as a gesture of his returned respect and affection, and it marks him as a member of our tribe. You’re asking us to part with our connections to our family, your Grace, because of your preconceived notions of war and peace.”</p>
<p>Cody saw Obi-wan go slightly red in the face, he still wasn’t used to people actually talking about their feelings for him to others.</p>
<p>It was something Cody was working on.</p>
<p>He watched out of the corner of his eye as Obi-wan reached out to hold Zatt’s hand, gently. The boy brightened.</p>
<p>“It is a mark of your lack of neutrality,” Satine said sharply, “To wear armor to peace talks. I would wonder if you support Death Watch, with such an open martial display.”</p>
<p>“If anything, my brothers and I would be Haat’ade,” Cody said mildly, “We strive to follow the SuperCommando Codex, which teaches traditionalism, and armor, without the excess of Kyr’staad.”</p>
<p>He worked not to let his insulted feelings show. Be diplomatic, he told himself. No wonder Obi-wan was so reserved, he’d had to cultivate it.</p>
<p>Satine stared at him for a moment, and then at Obi-wan.</p>
<p>“And you?” She asked.</p>
<p>“I am one of his brothers,” Obi-wan said, and Cody nodded emphatically, “And follow the Jedi Code, primarily, but the SuperCommando Codex does not conflict with the Code.”</p>
<p>Satine nodded, sharply, and excused herself and her retinue to prepare for the diplomatic dinner later that night.</p>
<p>“That went well,” Cody said sardonically, eyeing Obi-wan out of the corner of his eye.</p>
<p>“They didn’t leave at the first sign of armor, Cody,” Obi-wan said tiredly, “I believe it went very well indeed.”</p>
<p>“I’m surprised you didn’t take the armor off for the talks,” Cody mentioned as they walked back to the Negotiator.</p>
<p>“Honesty is key to a friendly diplomatic relationship,” Obi-wan replied tiredly, “And I would never wish to give the impression that you and your brothers are something shameful to me.”</p>
<p>Cody was touched.</p>
<p>“And Satine?” He asked carefully.</p>
<p>“Satine and I,” Obi-wan chose to reply, “Met when we were both young, and convinced of the benevolence of the universe. Now I am old, and am no longer convinced of the benevolence of anything. However, she still is.”</p>
<p>“You’re not old,” Cody objected with a snicker.</p>
<p>“So says the teenager,” Obi-wan replied dryly.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Satine couldn’t say she was impressed by Dantooine. The quarters were serviceable, and obviously effort had gone into making them ready for occupation. She had definitely slept in worse, during her time on the run. She was merely disquieted.</p>
<p>She frowned as she remembered part of the reason for her disquiet.</p>
<p>She had thought Obi-wan understood and agreed with her beliefs, with her ideals. He had fought in a war, but she could excuse that somewhat as a war for defense of others. She was aware of what the Separatists did to captured Republic citizens.</p>
<p>But here he was, on a planet full of soldiers, wearing armor- weapons- to a peace meeting. That was not within her moral code, the one she thought they shared. But she supposed she couldn’t assume, Obi-wan had always had an earlier time lying than she did.</p>
<p>He had tried to give platitudes to her, about how the armor meant connection to his family, bit she knew very well that the Jedi did not have families. She had watched Obi-wan with Master Jinn during their mission; it was perfectly disturbing how they could switch from acting like a father and son for the benefit of those around them to acting like distant co-workers when they were alone.</p>
<p>She supposed she was the fool, here, for trying to seek a human connection with a man whose religious order mandated that he refuse them.</p>
<p>But she was starting to grow uncertain. Obi-wan had turned up at the door of their complex at a little before the fifth hour, with the same Nautolan boy and the clone with the horrible scar on his face and a number for a last name, and another clone with a scowl and blue armor who was introduced as ‘Alpha Ta’raysh-E’tad.’</p>
<p>Another number. If they were truly Kenobi’s brothers, they would have his name, not simply a placeholder.</p>
<p>“I trust you have looked at the schedule?” Obi-wan tried to project gentility, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the blue clone’s scowl and the arimor they all wore.</p>
<p>Even the children. The little Nautolan was wearing it too. Obi-wan had fallen farther than she had thought.</p>
<p>She nodded. The Jedi and clones were putting on a play for them, as part of a diplomatic effort. She watched Obi-wan and his companions carefully as they walked together to one of the massive grounded battleships, where the play was to be performed.</p>
<p>They were obviously striving to be polite and formal, but the child was holding Obi-wan’s hand. Obi-wan smiled down at him occasionally, as did the two Clones.</p>
<p>She couldn’t shake the memories of Qui-gon doing exactly that to Obi-wan, only to turn away when they were alone. Obi-wan had pretended that it didn’t hurt him for the entire mission.</p>
<p>“Obi-wan Kenobi!” She snapped, “How dare you treat a child like that!”</p>
<p>Obi-wan froze, still holding the child’s hand.</p>
<p>“Is there a new cultural taboo that I am not aware of?” He asked, hesitantly.</p>
<p>“You do not use the affection of a a child as a cover identity!” She hissed, “Don’t you remember how much it hurt when Jinn did it to you?”</p>
<p>Obi-wan’s face went blank. The clones’ faces turned thunderous. The child just blinked at her.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” He asked, curiously.</p>
<p>Did the child really not understand that he was only given attention in front of others?</p>
<p>“How does your Master acts toward you when you are alone?” She asked, trying to be gentle. The child lit up, and rattled off a training regimen, but it wasn’t adding up. As the child told it, he was rarely alone, even when training; he was always with Obi-wan or a clone, and that they hugged him when he did well, or when he did poorly, or just when he wanted them to, and they told stories, and set up places for him to play with his friends, and a thousand and one other things that Qui-gon had never done for Obi-wan.</p>
<p>Obiwan cleared his throat, face still blank. The scarred clone, Cody, had out his hand on the Jedi Master’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“Master Jinn’s methods of training are not the norm for the Jedi Order, due to their not being beneficial to a child,” Obi-wan said stiffly, “And I do not seek to replicate them.”</p>
<p>Oh kark. Jinn was abusive?</p>
<p>The child pressed himself against Obi-wan’s side, probably sensitive to the tension in the air, and Obi-wan did not shove him away.</p>
<p>“My apologies,” Satine could only say weakly, “I misstepped.”</p>
<p>Obi-wan only nodded, and continued to walk toward the battleship, with his... his family beside him.</p>
<p>Satine had no choice but to follow.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Anakin wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to help with diplomacy. Obi-wan had told him mostly to stick around and make sure nothing exploded.</p>
<p>He was really not the right person for this.</p>
<p>But he had been there when Master Billaba greeted the Nite Owls, and had bowed politely with Ahsoka and introduced them to Bo-Katan and her delegation. As a sign of good faith, one member of the Nite Owls had brought their children along, so Anakin, Ahsoka, and Caleb were assigned to babysitting duty.</p>
<p>Anakin looked dubiously at the two small children he had been assigned to care for. They looked dubiously back.</p>
<p>The play was pretty engaging at least, or, well, more engaging than Calamari ballet-opera. Though that may be a low bar. Master Windu, Commander Ponds, and the 187th were putting on a play on the foundation of the Jedi Order, during the Sith Wars.</p>
<p>While Anakin wasn’t usually one for plays, he would admit to being intrigued by the story. It was a well-written one, with lots of action.</p>
<p>And watching Clone running around in wigs and robes pretending to be Jedi Masters was pretty hilarious. Apparently the kids agreed, and giggled at some of the more ridiculous Clones. Admittedly, some of the Clones played it up, adjusting their wigs theatrically on stage.</p>
<p>Windu spent much of the play rolling his eyes. However, it seemed to be a hit with the Nite Owl delegation, especially the children, and from what Anakin could see of the New Mandalorians, they also enjoyed it.</p>
<p>While Anakin was distracted by the New Mandalorians, one of the Nite Owl children slipped away toward the reception area, where the 187th and Windu were still in costume. The small girl tugged on Windu’s black robe; he had taken the role of the primary antagonist, this time, a Sith Lord.</p>
<p>“Do you need a Second in Command?” She asked, “Mandalorians make good Commanders.”</p>
<p>Windu blinked down at here, and looked to Ponds. Ponds, apparently, decided that it was above his pay grade, and leaned against another Clone laughing.</p>
<p>“Ah... I already have a Commander, young one,” he said, “You... do realize that I’m not actually a Sith, right? I just play one, on the stage.”</p>
<p>Ponds laughed harder.</p>
<p>“But you’re still scary,” the girl pointed out logically. Her mother noticed her speaking to Windu and rushed over.</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry,” she tried to apologize, but Windu waved her off.</p>
<p>“Ponds needs all the laughs he can get,” he dismissed, “And him laughing at me is not a new occurrence.”</p>
<p>“Still-,” The Mandalorian woman tried to apologize again.</p>
<p>“It truly is no problem,” Windu said kindly, “She reminds me a bit of my own Padawan, when she was still an initiate. And you, youngling,” he addressed the girl, “Need to grow and learn before you are ready to be a Commander.”</p>
<p>“And when I am ready?” The kid asked.</p>
<p>“You can fight Ponds for the job,” Windu said very seriously, nodding at his Commander. Ponds stopped laughing.</p>
<p>The little girl looked Ponds up and down with a critical eye, and turned back to Windu.</p>
<p>“I’m pretty sure I could fight him now,” she said, and set out to do so.</p>
<p>The next fifteen seconds or so were a blur. The girl tackled Ponds, who started to desperately try to pry her off of him without harming her. The mother attempted to assist Ponds, and so did Anakin. Windu nearly fell over laughing.</p>
<p>“You’re a shebs, you know that?” Ponds said mildly, attempting to detach the girl from his arm.</p>
<p>“Language!” Windu managed to wheeze, as the girl managed to get her hand to Pond’s neck. The mother was faster, though, and grabbed her daughter by the hand and yanked her off the Clone.</p>
<p>“Sabine!” She tried to scold her daughter, only for Ponds to shake his head.</p>
<p>“Not the weirdest enemy I’ve had attack me, and Mace needs to laugh occasionally too,” he excused them, and turned to the girl and knocked gently on her tiny spaulder.</p>
<p>“Good fighting, little one,” he said, “You can come back when you’re grown up, and fight me again then.”</p>
<p>The girl nodded eagerly, and the mother sighed.</p>
<p>Well. Off to a diplomatic start.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Bo-Katan Kryze wasn’t sure what to make of the Jedi. She remembered them, distantly, from the mission where Satine had disappeared for an entire year and she had joined Death Watch; she remembered Kenobi, more recently, hanging around Satine, arguing about war and peace.</p>
<p>She had been disdainful of him, the Warrior with no teeth, who had cut off his own claws to become a peacekeeper. But now she saw him, and all the rest of them, surrounded by their brothers and sisters in arms, and she wondered if the Jedi were simply better at hiding at hiding their claws than anyone else, at making sure the Galaxy forgot their teeth ever existed.</p>
<p>And the best weapon, she knew, was one your enemy didn’t know you had.</p>
<p>So she watched the Jedi, and Satine, and the copies, and the New Mandalorians. Know thy enemy, after all, was the foremost tenet in combat.</p>
<p>And she learned.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular Mandalorian thought, the Jedi were not soulless, family-less monsters. She watched the Masters with their Padawans, the parents with their children. She watched the Generals with their Commanders, be they siblings or lovers or parent and child as well. She had a good laugh when little Sabine tried to attack the clone, though the clone seemed to find it more adorable than anything.</p>
<p>That was another thing she learned. The clones had emotions as well, and families, and apparently a huge soft spot for young children, their own and other peoples’. Several units of tiny clones had attended the play, enraptured by the flowing sword fights on stage. The adults watching them looked more like parents than anything, enjoying the children’s excitement.</p>
<p>They wanted to be Mandalorians, or so she was told. She didn’t say anything one way or the other; a year ago, she would have called them shells with no heart, but a year ago, she had not watched them with their children, teaching them their dances.</p>
<p>Her observations continued over the next day, when she and her delegation were led on a tour of the Enclave. They walked past groups of Jedi children learning lightsaber fighting, and clone children practicing hand-to-hand and blaster training, both while even smaller Jedi and clone children looked on interestedly.</p>
<p>Skywalker, their guide, and Tano, his apprentice, would occasionally stop and give tips for the kids with lightsabers, while the clones with them did the same with blaster classes. The kids looked up at them in near-universal hero worship.</p>
<p>Bo-Katan watched carefully as they demonstrated the differing styles of fighting for Jedi, and was surprised to see the clones demonstrating differently as well. She decided to ask her question; they already knew she was watching.</p>
<p>“Why do the clones fight differently?” She asked bluntly, “They’re all the same, shouldn’t they have the same technique?”</p>
<p>It wasn’t the Jedi who answered her, but the blond clone with them.</p>
<p>“Just like natborns specialize in fighting, so do Clones, but we mostly do it by legion. I’m 501st, we specialize in unorthodox tactics to beat overwhelming odds. 212th, for example, is better at holding lines until negotiations can go through,” he explained, and then ruffled the hair of the younger clone next to him, “This is Captain Boss, of 332nd Company. They specialize in taking ‘Oya’ (1) more literally than everyone else.”</p>
<p>Bo-Katan blinked. Tano sighed, and started running after a small mammal in the distance. The clones painted in orange followed her.</p>
<p>They seemed to be having a good time, herding the animal around, not letting it escape.</p>
<p>“It’s bad manners to play with your food!” The blond clone yelled. The Togruta stuck her tongue out at him, and the Clones pounced on the mammal and quickly dispatched it. They trotted back, flushed and grinning, and the clone captain offered her the mammal. </p>
<p>“As a token of our regard,” he said, with a kark-eating grin, “They’re delicious roasted.”</p>
<p>Ursa took the animal with a dubious expression, which turned even more dubious when Tano offered to roast her a slice with her lightsaber. Arla started to laugh, and actually took a slice when offered.</p>
<p>“You’re missing out,” she teased them, “It’s delicious.”</p>
<p>Bo-Katan eventually took a slice, and it was good, if underseasoned. She complemented the hunters absently, and suppressed a chuckle when a couple of the young men blushed.</p>
<p>They really were people. They quite possibly were Mandalorians. She suspended judgement for now.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Ahsoka was pumped. They were having a murderball tournament tonight, as the final diplomatic event for their guests, and she and some of the 332nd had entered as a team.</p>
<p>They were playing a murderball variant called smashball, which in addition to the usual twelve-man team of Clones included a Jedi. It was a bracket tournament, and the first team that the Wild Hunt was facing was Caleb, Stance, and a few other Shinies from his legion.</p>
<p>Ahsoka put her blindfold on as the referee counted down to the beginning of the match.</p>
<p>When the referee finished, the game began.</p>
<p>Smashball was a simple game, if incredibly high-energy. It was played with rocks, due to the lack of any recreational equipment available to Clones at the beginning of the war. Generally, a full set of rocks included a large rock, of about ten kilos, with several dozen smaller rocks ranging from one to three kilos. The large rock, affectionately referred to as the ori’vod (2), was put at the center of the playing field, while the smaller ones, or vod’ikase (3), were scattered around by the referees as evenly as they could. Each team was posted at the edge of the field, on their own end zone.</p>
<p>When the game started, the goal was for one clone to get the ori’vod. Generally, there was a quick sprint for it, and perhaps a wrestling match, until one clone got the rock. Once the ori’vod was obtained, they tried to carry it to the center of their end zone, where a specially marked circle of rocks, the lenedat (4), was. If they succeeded, they got a point for their team. The first team to reach twelve points won.</p>
<p>Once the ori’vod was picked up, the Clone holding it could not be touched by other players. What other players could do, however, was throw the vod’ikase at the Clone, either to trip him or make him drop the ori’vod. If the ori’vod hit the ground, a new scuffle ensued until it was picked up again.</p>
<p>Murderball and its variant games were the only sport Ahsoka knew of habitually played in full combat armor, and there was good reason for it.</p>
<p>Smashball’s main difference from Murderball was the inclusion of an additional Jedi player. The Jedi’s job was to control a single rock, the jett’ika (5), with the Force, and use it to deflect other rocks to protect their teammates. When the Jedi playing had differing skill levels, the one of a higher skill level would take a handicap. A Senior Padawan might blindfold themselves if they were playing against a Junior Padawan, as Ahsoka was doing. Council Masters playing against Padawans often had a blindfold, their hands tied, and were only allowed to hop around on one leg. It was pretty funny to watch.</p>
<p>Spirits were high, and Ahsoka had to focus on the rock and not the jubilance of the crowd and the adrenaline of the players. She focused on defense, keeping rocks from hitting her men, especially their heads. While it wasn’t precisely a rule, there was near-universal agreement that players would only aim for arms, legs, torso, or rock, never for the helmet. However, accidents did happen.</p>
<p>She was told that Wolffe had acquired a son that way.</p>
<p>It was a close game, but the Wild Hunt beat Caleb and his squad 12 to 11. After a quick celebration, it was traditional for the winners and the losers to do a short dance together after a game, they moved up to the next bracket.</p>
<p>This time, they were facing against Kit Fisto and his men, calling themselves the Scuba Divers. Not the most intimidating name, but they were a fairly intimidating team. Even with Master Fisto hopping around on one leg.</p>
<p>It was a good game, nonetheless; it was always fun to run in formation with her brothers, to dodge and weave with much less consequence if something went wrong than in battle.</p>
<p>They gave it their best go, but they weren’t quite on the level of Master Fisto’s men yet, and lost 10 to 12. But it was a good game, and Master Fisto gave an exaggerated bow and twirled her around during the end-game dance. Of course, he offered to do the same to Boss, but her Captain politely refused.</p>
<p>After the dance, they went to sit with the 501st. Rex ruffled her montrals, and Anakin gave her a hug, and they all settled in to watch the rest of the games.</p>
<p>She couldn’t see whether the New Mandalorians enjoyed the game, but the Nite Owls certainly were enthusiastic about it. They didn’t know the legion numbers, like Jedi did, but they enthusiastically cheered for color teams.</p>
<p>Though it did make life interesting when the colors were the same, such as when Lock and Horn Company went up against Gree and the 41st.</p>
<p>Ahsoka registered both the Nite Owl children watching the game interestedly and made a note to keep an eye on them.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Obi-wan was not looking forward to the negotiations this morning. He of course made his best effort anyway, and escorted Satine and her delegation to the meeting room with Cody. He met up with Depa and the Nite Owls at the doorway, and he exchanged a longsuffering look with her as they ushered their delegations through.</p>
<p>Zatt and Caleb were on babysitting duty, and Anakin was lurking in the back corners of the room to break up any fights that might occur.</p>
<p>There was an unexpected delegation, as well. Young Boba Fett, his squadmates, and his father were standing outside the door, though Jango was wearing full Clone armor and a helmet.</p>
<p>“What’s this?” Satine asked neutrally. Boba put his chin up, and Han stopped himself from fidgeting with his bracers.</p>
<p>“I would like to represent the Haat’Ade (6),” Boba said evenly.</p>
<p>“The Haat’Ade are dead!” Said Bo-Katan, with heat.</p>
<p>“And whose fault is that?” Asked Boba, and continued in Mando’a before Bo-Katan could make a counter accusation, “There was one survivor, and he had a child. I am the child of the last Mand’alor (7) of the Haat’Ade by blood and adoption, and I would seek my birthright.”</p>
<p>Someone had been teaching him the traditional words. He gave Cody a suspicious look; Boba had come to him to try and ask a few questions relating to this, but he had not mentioned the right words to say. To be fair, Boba hadn’t asked.</p>
<p>Cody shook his head, and gestured toward Fett’s armored figure.</p>
<p>Ah. Fett must have proved himself more vulnerable to his son’s tooka eyes than Cody and Obi-wan.</p>
<p>Boba seemed fairly determined to be let in, though, and he had followed the ritual, so they really had no choice but to give him a seat at the table. Han and Lando sat next to him, as advisors, and Jango stood behind him as a guard.</p>
<p>After everyone was seated, negotiations began. They were able to get through the introductions for the Jedi and True Mandalorians easily enough, though they hit their first snag when several Nite Owls refused to take off their helmets and the New Mandalorians took offense.</p>
<p>“This is my face,” one of the Nite Owl women explained, “I am Mandalorian, and that is much more important than what species I am, or what my flesh face looks like.”</p>
<p>“You refuse to negotiate face-to-face!” One of the New Mandalorian men said, “We came here in good faith, but you will not speak with us as equals!”</p>
<p>Obi-wan resisted the urge to facepalm. He also covertly gestured for Anakin to remain in his position, he didn’t need a well-meaning brawl breaking out. That would damage negotiations permanently.</p>
<p>“I understand that your helmet is more important to you than your flesh face,” he said, diplomatically, “But would it be possible to remove your helmet, just for the negotiations? You can put it on the table, and thus show both your faces. If you cannot show your flesh face, I understand, and we could acquire a screen of some sort?”</p>
<p>The Nite Owls conversed over internal comm, and nodded. They took off their helmets, and set them gently on the table.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Anakin watched quietly as a young tanned woman with upturned brown eyes nodded to them, and introduced herself as Ursa Wren.</p>
<p>Another slightly older tanned woman, with blonde hair similar to Rex and eyes the same shade as Cody’s, said “Arla Fett.”</p>
<p>Jango jerked, and made an aborted noise.</p>
<p>“Anything wrong, Proto?” Boba asked worriedly. Jango must not want people to know he was alive, if he told Boba to call him by his nickname. </p>
<p>“Nothing,” Proto replied in a slightly strangled voice, “Reminded of someone I knew once, is all.”</p>
<p>“How come he gets to keep his helmet on?” Asked the younger woman, archly.</p>
<p>“You’ve seen one Vod, you’ve seen them all?” Fett tried to joke weakly. Anakin gave into the urge to facepalm, and he saw Obi-wan do the same between his fingers.</p>
<p>“Take off the helmet, Proto,” Obi-wan gave undue emphasis on the nickname, but he was probably exasperated with the man, “And learn to be more resistant to Boba’s puppy-Akk-dog eyes.”</p>
<p>Fett pulled the helmet off hesitantly, but relaxed after no one seemed to recognize him. He put it gently on the table, next to Boba and Han.</p>
<p>“You look a little old, for a Clone,” Bo-Katan said archly.</p>
<p>“I’m a prototype,” Fett shrugged wryly, “It’s in my name.”</p>
<p>“Let’s continue with the negotiations!” Obi-wan tried to redirect attention, but it was like herding tookas. Anakin wished he’d had pop-kernels, but that would probably cause a diplomatic incident.</p>
<p>“No, I’ve seen you somewhere before,” said Arla Fett. Could they be related?</p>
<p>“You’ve seen me everywhere,” said Fett flatly, “There are approximately three and a half million of me on planet right now.”</p>
<p>Ouch. Anakin saw Cody make a face at Fett.</p>
<p>“Nice try,” Arla said absently, not really focused on Fett’s face, “But your attitude is annoyingly familiar.”</p>
<p>“I’m not annoying, you’re annoying!” Fett snapped, though it seemed to be a reflexive action. Boba looked up at his father in surprise; he probably never heard his father act like an eight year old before.</p>
<p>“Shut up, Jango!” Arla snapped back, and then blinked. The other Nite Owls were looking at her like she’d grown a second head, and the New Mandalorians just looked confused. Jango looked like he was regretting every decision he’d made in the last five minutes.</p>
<p>“Pardon me,” he said abruptly, and grabbed his helmet to leave, “I’ll meet you for lunch, Boba.”</p>
<p>Everyone stared at him as he jammed the helmet on and went out the door.</p>
<p>“Arla, I think you need to talk to that man,” Ursa said.</p>
<p>“Why?” Arla snapped, defensive again.</p>
<p>“You called him by your dead brother’s name,” Ursa said calmly, “Might mess with a clone’s head.”</p>
<p>Anakin wondered if he should tell them, and decided against it. It wasn’t his secret to tell.</p>
<p>Arla sighed, excused herself, and left the room.</p>
<p>“Well,” Obi-wan sighed, “I don’t suppose we could begin the talks now?”</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Jango wasn’t expecting Arla to come find him. Then again, he wasn’t expecting Arla at all. It was incredibly comforting to know that he and Boba weren’t the last of their name, that his sister wasn’t dead like their parents, but he couldn’t help but shudder at imagining how Arla went from being almost killed by Death Watch to joining them.</p>
<p>He stalked outside the crumbling old building, and found a spot to sit on the grass.</p>
<p>He needed to calm down. He needed to keep the mask up. Arla didn’t want to be related to Demagolka, it was better if she never knew. He hugged his helmet to himself, briefly, and hurriedly put it on when he heard footsteps behind him.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Arla said, behind him, “I spoke without thinking.”</p>
<p>“No apology necessary,” he said, keeping his eyes on the horizon, “It’s not like I don’t have a strong resemblance to him.”</p>
<p>Arla chuckled, and... sat down next to him. This was not what he was aiming for. This was the exact opposite of what he was aiming for.</p>
<p>He forced himself to relax.</p>
<p>“I don’t actually have any memory of my childhood,” Arla said casually, “The first thing I remember is waking up at Kyrimorut, with an ex-Jedi and the Skirata clan, about three years ago now. I’d apparently asked for my memories to be wiped, due to my guilt at joining Kyr’Staad during my childhood.”</p>
<p>Jango flinched. Not for the first time, he was glad for the helmet.</p>
<p>“But it wasn’t all bad, apparently,” Arla said, “If what I said to you was any indication.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Jango offered, because it was all he could offer. I’m sorry our parents died, I’m sorry Jaster and I never thought to look for you, I’m sorry it all happened.</p>
<p>“I joined the Nite Owls soon after that, to fight against Maul and the reign of Death Watch,” said Arla, “And now I’m here.”</p>
<p>“Not a bad place to be,” Jango said noncommittally.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I’d have wiped my memories if my brother was alive, though,” Arla said thoughtfully, “Family is important.”</p>
<p>“He’s Dar’Manda and Demagolka,” Jango said bluntly, “He doesn’t deserve your consideration.”</p>
<p>Arla looked at him in shock.</p>
<p>“But he has a son,” Jango tried to offer, “Boba Fett, the kid trying to be recognized as Haat’Ade.”</p>
<p>“My brother is alive?” Arla whispered. Jango stiffened. That was not what he was trying to convey.</p>
<p>“Please,” Arla put her hand on his shoulder, not gently, “Please, where is he?”</p>
<p>“He’s not worth it,” he tried to warn her, “He’s Demagolka, he allowed his own children to be killed because he thought they were droids.”</p>
<p>“I’m Dar’Manda, Demagolka, as well,” Arla said desperately, “I joined the people who killed my Buire, I became a soldier for their cause, I probably conscripted other children too. I don’t care, where is he?”</p>
<p>Jango said nothing. Arla shook his shoulder, with desperation on her face.</p>
<p>“Please,” She said again, “I have to know.”</p>
<p>Jango sighed, and took off his helmet again.</p>
<p>“Proto’s a nickname,” he said carefully, “A naturally-born human can’t really be considered a prototype, but I like it better than Prime.”</p>
<p>Arla looked at him, with wide eyes. And then she hugged him, tightly. He couldn’t breathe, but that was alright. He was probably hugging her just as tightly.</p>
<p>“You’re alive,” she said, in a slightly shaky voice.</p>
<p>“So are you,” he whispered, not that his voice was any better. They stayed there for quite some time.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Satine wasn’t sure what had just happened, but they began negotiations nonetheless. As expected, Bo-Katan started to push aggressively to undo all her reforms and return them to the genocidal ways of their ancestors. What was less expected was young Boba Fett’s position on things.</p>
<p>“We should return to the Resol’nare, to arms and armor!” Bo-Katan gestured wildly.</p>
<p>“We should commit to peace, and not the eternal bloodshed of our ancestors! We should not return to carrying weapons of war every day!” Satine hissed back.</p>
<p>“We should probably allow people to make their own decisions about what they want to wear or not,” Boba said reasonably.</p>
<p>Everyone blinked at him.</p>
<p>“I mean, I don’t want to wear a helmet all the time,” Boba continued, “And Lando sometimes doesn’t want to wear bracers, so he can slip a card rig under his sleeve-“</p>
<p>“Hey!” The darker-skinned child cried.</p>
<p>“But if Han didn’t wear bracers, he’d probably have lost half the skin on his arms by now trying to wrestle with that flying junk heap of his,” Boba continued.</p>
<p>“Don’t insult the Falcon like that!” Said the lighter-skinned child, “She’s a classy lady, much better than your Slave!”</p>
<p>“Those are fighting words, Solo!” Boba replied. Kenobi cleared his throat.</p>
<p>“Children, I would like to return the topic of discussion to armor. You were making some excellent points before you got... sidetracked,” he suggested.</p>
<p>How genteel of him. Now they had to listen to the political viewpoints of a seventeen year old.</p>
<p>“I mean, we shouldn’t allow people to hurt others for no reason, but just because you carry a weapons doesn’t mean you’ll use it,” Boba said, “Unless it’s a Jedi with a lightsaber. They just can’t seem to help themselves.”</p>
<p>“The word you’re looking for, Boba,” said Commander Cody with a smirk, “Is ‘just because you carry a weapon doesn’t mean you’ll <em>lose</em> it.’”</p>
<p>Obi-wan gave him a look of indignation. Commander Cody held up Obi-wan’s lightsaber in response. Obi-wan checked his belt, with a look of shock, before shaking his head and taking back his weapon.</p>
<p>Boba and his friends snickered, Skywalker outright laughed, and Satine couldn’t resist a smile. She had been wrong; Obi-wan and Commander Cody were definitely brothers.</p>
<p>“But Boba does have a point,” Obi-wan said reasonably, “Why not simply prohibit violence, instead of prohibiting weapons? Armor, especially, is very culturally important to your people, and losing that would be a blow to many of your peoples’ identity.”</p>
<p>“Weapons lead to violence,” Satine objected, “Carrying such a thing opens the mind to harming others.”</p>
<p>“Jedi typically carry lightsabers from the time they are nine standard years, or species developmental equivalent,” Skywalker said, “Do we seem violent to you?”</p>
<p>“You put a lightsaber through an unarmed man’s chest within five hours of the time we first me,” Satine deadpanned.</p>
<p>“He was going to blow up the ship!” Skywalker said, like it was a defense, “And besides, I’ve only been carrying a lightsaber since I was eleven. Maybe carrying weapons increases your patience the longer you do it?”</p>
<p>Obi-wan gave him a flat look, and shook his head.</p>
<p>“Don’t mind Anakin, he’s not the most diplomatic,” he said, ignoring the face Skywalker made at him, “But surely, you can agree to allow your people to carry weapons and wear armor if they so choose, in accordance with your traditions.”</p>
<p>“I will agree to keep the peace,” Satine said firmly. She left it unsaid that she agreed only to keep the peace, not because she thought it was a good idea.</p>
<p>And so the talks continued.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Anakin was incredibly bored. No one else really looked very entertained either, especially Boba Fett, but a Jedi did not crave adventure.</p>
<p>Nope, those old lectures still did not work, even when he was the one saying them.</p>
<p>He heard a rustling in the vents, and raised his head in alertness. Droids?</p>
<p>He reached out with the Force, and sighed. Not droids. He strode to the ventilation duct cover, removed it, and stuck his arm inside until he found a scruff bar. When extracted, the culprit was revealed to be a large, Padawan-shaped ball of dust.</p>
<p>Upon further inspection, the ball of dust was Cal Kestis. Anakin sighed, and reached out with the Force into the vent again, and extracted Cadet Fritz.</p>
<p>“What have we told you about important meetings and the ventilation ducts?” He asked exasperatedly.</p>
<p>“This happens often?” Came the question from behind him.</p>
<p>Anakin froze, and registered that no one at the table had spoken since he opened the vent.</p>
<p>He turned around slowly, noticing Cal mirroring his shocked expression, to face the table. Boba, Han and Lando were grinning and started to snicker when they saw his face. Obi-wan had his face in his hand. Master Billaba looked very tired.</p>
<p>And the Mandalorian delegations were both looking at him with varying expressions of shock, except for Ursa Wren, who was more sympathetic.</p>
<p>“Hi!” Cal waved nervously. Fritz mirrored him.</p>
<p>“This happens every time there’s an important meeting,” Obi-wan said, “We’ve started holding the confidential ones in shuttles while in orbit.”</p>
<p>Anakin smiled. Those shuttle-meetings were fun, mostly because after the important stuff was over, they would commiserate about what their families had done this time.</p>
<p>Windu was still mad about the spicy food Ponds gave him, apparently.</p>
<p>“Alright, kids,” he said, escorting Cal and Fritz to the door, “Let’s find your Commander, as I’m assuming your Master has already lost you.”</p>
<p>“Master Tapal never sees the can of paint coming,” Cal nodded.</p>
<p>Not for the first time, Anakin thanked his lucky stars that Ahsoka wasn’t so devious.</p>
<p>He heard a rustling from behind him, and then Obi-wan spoke.</p>
<p>“Well, with that, we might as well break for lunch,” he sighed, “Due to all of us losing our train of thought.”</p>
<p>The group followed Anakin into the hall, and up the winding staircase that led out.</p>
<p>“You’d never survive my children,” Ursa Wren said amusedly.</p>
<p>“Oh, I know,” Obi-wan replied, “I barely survived Anakin, and I didn’t get him until he was nine.”</p>
<p>“I was a delight!” Anakin called over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“You re-wired the refrigeration unit to cryogenically freeze your droid parts! I almost lost a hand!” Obi-wan called back.</p>
<p>“TY series CPUs are extraordinary sensitive to even the minutest change in temperature, and explode if exposed to a variance of more than 2.8 degrees centigrade! Cryo’s the only safe way to store them!” Anakin argued.</p>
<p>“They were explosive?!” Obi-wan yelped. Ursa started laughing. So did Master Billaba. Satine tilted her head in consideration.</p>
<p>“I thought you said Anakin was your brother,” She asked Obi-wan. Obi-wan nodded in return.</p>
<p>“Our father died when I was nine,” Anakin explained, “Obi-wan raised me the rest of the way.”</p>
<p>“It’s a wonder I don’t have grey hairs yet,” Obi-wan muttered.</p>
<p>“You know you love me!” Anakin called, and exited the hall. Now to find the Commander, and tell him what Cal and Fritz has done this time.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Bo-Katan just wasn’t sure what to think, anymore. Apparently the Jedi were not merely warriors, but harried parents.</p>
<p>Harried parents who were starting to exchange stories about children misbehaving, apparently. Well, it made the luncheon more interesting.</p>
<p>“And then I look up and see Tristan with one hand in the cuboard and the other full of crawdids!” Ursa exclaimed. Kenobi was nodding in commiseration.</p>
<p>“At least Anakin didn’t bring home many living things,” he sighed.</p>
<p>“Didn’t you tell us about the time Master Jinn adopted a baby rathtar?” The yellow clone, Cody, asked.</p>
<p>“Yes, the living things were my Master’s specialty,” Kenobi agreed. Ursa blinked at them.</p>
<p>Satine apparently decided to jump in, the shebs.</p>
<p>“Did Bo ever tell you about the time she tried to fight our father for the position of Duke?” She asked amusedly.</p>
<p>“No, and they will never hear it,” Bo-Katan snapped. Satine shot her a smug grin, so she was forced to bring up sibling blackmail.</p>
<p>“Or should I tell your boyfriend the time you accidentally dyed your hair green and blamed me?” Bo-Katan teased. Satine’s face went flat. Kenobi turned bright red.</p>
<p>Skywalker perked up. He’d returned in the middle of the luncheon without the children in tow, and looked like he was regretting it when the embarrassing childhood stories started flying.</p>
<p>“Really now, Obi-wan! A Jedi desires not romance, nor the affections of comely individuals!” He said, in a very bad Coruscanti accent that was probably supposed to be an imitation of Kenobi’s.</p>
<p>“You have no room to talk, Anakin!” Kenobi exclaimed, “You got married four years before the Code changed.”</p>
<p>“And I have two lovely children,” Skywalker responded unrepentantly.</p>
<p>Boba Fett lit up as someone else walked in the door, and Bo-Katan turned to see Arla and the clone she’d argued with earlier walk in. The clone nodded, and went to sit next to Boba, before Arla grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to Bo-Katan and Ursa.</p>
<p>“Uh,” said the clone.</p>
<p>“This is my brother, Jango Fett,” Arla said, “He’s apparently still alive, so I will be staying here for at least a week to catch up with him.”</p>
<p>What.</p>
<p>“He’s a clone,” Ursa said concernedly. Kenobi sighed.</p>
<p>“No, he’s not,” he said tiredly, “He’s actually Jango Fett. We found him on a hunting moon about a year and a half ago, now, where he’d been sold after Geonosis. He’s staying here to repay his debt to the clones.”</p>
<p>“That’s my Aunt Arla?” Fett- Boba Fett, that was- Asked interestedly.</p>
<p>The clone- Jango Fett- nodded, hesitantly. Arla looked overjoyed.</p>
<p>“I almost forgot you told me you have a kid!” She said, “He looks just like you!”</p>
<p>Boba and his friends collapsed into laughter.</p>
<p>“There’s a reason for that,” Jango deadpanned, giving his son a hard look. The kid was unrepentant.</p>
<p>“I’m his clone too,” Boba said, “The only unmodified one, or, well, originally the only unmodified one. Dad wanted a kid, I’m told it happens to all Mandalorians at a certain age.”</p>
<p>“I’ll ‘certain age’ you, young man,” Jango said, with a humorous tone edging into his threat. Bo-Katan was still trying to process the entire situation.</p>
<p>“Arrest him!” Satine snapped, pointing at Jango. Apparently she was quicker on the uptake.</p>
<p>The entire lunch descended into chaos after that.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Depa Billaba was nursing a headache. It looked like Obi-wan was too. Skywalker had a black eye, but then so did Arla Fett, who had given it to him.</p>
<p>“Believe it or not,” sighed Obi-wan, “This was a fairly successful diplomatic meeting, by Mandalorian standards.”</p>
<p>Depa just looked at him. She didn’t have the energy for anything else.</p>
<p>“Three vocally antagonistic delegations, two resurrections, and a fistfight was a successful meeting,” Skywalker said flatly.</p>
<p>Obi-wan nodded, leaning on Cody. The Mandalorian delegations were trailing behind him, all equally exhausted.</p>
<p>And her day was not over yet. She saw several figures waiting for them at the entrance to the complex, and hurried her steps a bit. Then the figures stepped out of the shadowed, and her steps hurried more. So did Ursa Wren’s.</p>
<p>Standing in front of them were Zatt, Caleb, and the Wren children, except for a key difference: when she had last seen Caleb that morning, his armor was not bright the bright coppery color that it was now.</p>
<p>Sabine And Tristan were both wearing Initiate -sized outer robes, the brown kind that most Jedi wore. The only difference was that these robes were no longer brown, and possibly would never be brown again. Sabine’s was a riot of color and patterns, while Tristan’s was full of every shade of blue imaginable with... much less in the way of patterns.</p>
<p>“What happened?” She asked, without thinking. Ursa Wren merely seemed to be mute in horror.</p>
<p>“We went to play with the initiates,” Caleb said sheepishly, “And they gave Sabine paint.”</p>
<p>“I’m going to be an artist!” Sabine said happily.</p>
<p>“I thought you were going to be a warrior!” Ursa said, exhausted but a little amused.</p>
<p>“I’m going to be... a warrior-artist!” Sabine replied.</p>
<p>“War-tist!” Tristan echoed happily.</p>
<p>“Even warrior artists don’t paint themselves all over,” Ursa sighed. And indeed, there was no small amount of paint on Sabine’s face and hair in addition to her new robe.</p>
<p>“How would you know? You’re just a regular warrior,” Sabine shrugged.</p>
<p>“I am also your buir, young lady,” Ursa arched her eyebrow, “And what I say goes.”</p>
<p>“Yes, buir,” Sabine sighed. Depa couldn’t help but smile. Caleb had been like that, when he was younger.</p>
<p>Her eyes drifted back to Caleb, who was being given a hard time by Stance and Grey about his new armor color. Her Padawan had a mischievous look on his face, and one hand hidden in his robe.</p>
<p>This boded ill.</p>
<p>Her suspicions were confirmed when Caleb removed his hand from his robe holding a small paintbrush, and started to repaint Stance’s right spaulder in the same coppery tone he was covered in. Stance naturally objected, and soon a wrestling match started.</p>
<p>Where did they find all that energy?</p>
<p>Grey stood beside her, chuckling. She leaned on him, companionably, and let a smile slip onto her face. He leaned back.</p>
<p>Sabine wandered over while Ursa was trying to clean Tristan off, and tugged on her robe.</p>
<p>“Yes, little one?” She asked, still a little amused from the paint fight in front of her.</p>
<p>“When is your son going to be a grown-up?” Sabine asked. Depa blinked down at her.</p>
<p>“He will probably be knighted around two to four years from now,” she said, after doing some mental math. Force, so soon?</p>
<p>“And will he get a Pada- Padawan then?” Sabine continued.</p>
<p>“After a couple years, perhaps,” Depa replied, “But sometimes new Knights need time to work how to do missions alone, first.”</p>
<p>Sabine nodded, seriously, and turned to her mother.</p>
<p>“We need to come back in four years,” she told an amused Ursa.</p>
<p>“Why, young one?” Ursa asked.</p>
<p>“I’m going to be his Padawan’s Commander!” Sabine said happily.</p>
<p>“I thought you were to be my Master’s Commander,” Depa replied with amusement. Sabine blinked up at her.</p>
<p>“The scary man is your buir?” She asked, and Depa couldn’t suppress another smile as she nodded.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Sabine said, and thought for a moment, and nodded, “But he already has a Commander, and he probably doesn’t want to switch. If I’m Caleb’s Padawan’s Commander, I won’t have to fight anyone for the job!”</p>
<p>Grey snickered.</p>
<p>“Excellent reasoning, young one,” he said, “If you want, I’ll even call you when Caleb gets his Padawan so you can take the job right away.”</p>
<p>Sabine nodded happily and skipped back to her mother. Ursa raised an eyebrow at them, but took her daughter’s hand and led her to the guest quarters, presumably for a bath. Depa turned her attention to her Padawan and his brother. They were both quite coppery by this point in time.</p>
<p>“We still have some time left,” Grey said to her, out of nowhere. Depa looked at the men her Padawan and his squad were becoming, and could only smile. That time would be gone much too soon.</p>
<p>“Might as well make use of it,” she replied, “Do you have any your holocomm on you?”</p>
<p>“What do you take me for, a shiny?” Grey gasped, mock offended. He showed her the holo he had taken of Caleb and Stance trying to get each other into a headlock. She smiled.</p>
<p>They did have some time left, and she intended to enjoy every minute of it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mando’a: a general expression of enthusiasm, kind of like ‘let’s go!’ in English, but literally means ‘let’s hunt!’<br/>2. Mando’a: ‘older brother’<br/>3. Mando’a: ‘little brothers,’ the -ika suffix is kind of an affectionate diminutive, but can be used without referring to age or size, as just a kind of affectionate name<br/>4. Mando’a: target<br/>5. Mando’a: ‘little Jedi’<br/>6. Mando’a: short for Haat Mando’Ade, ‘True Children of Mandalore’ or True Mandalorians<br/>7. Mando’a: leader</p>
<p>Kudos to you if you guessed who Aria was before the big reveal!</p>
<p>As always, I love comments</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. The Naming of Alphas (Is a Difficult Matter)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cody has started to unsubtly hint that Alpha needs a name. Alpha is considering it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys! Back again, with Alpha feels. Hope you like!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cody stood up straight in front of the door. It opened automatically, and Alpha-17 looked up absently from the book he was reading.</p><p>“Anything wrong?” He asked, sitting up.</p><p>“No,” Cody said, “Just need your help with some paperwork.”</p><p>“I think you maybe are looking for Kenobi,” Alpha deadpanned, and held a hand just a couple centimeters above his own head, “About yea high, red hair, posh accent, trouble magnet?”</p><p>“No,” Cody replied casually, hiding his smile, “I’m looking for you.”</p><p>“Are you trying to get me to take part of your paperwork load off you? I’m not a Commander anymore,” Alpha tried.</p><p>Cody shook his head with a smile, and set a stack of flimsi on the table.</p><p>“We should choose a last name, don’t you think?” He asked lightly. Alpha blinked at him, and gave a small smile.</p><p>“What brought this on?” He asked in return, shuffling through the flimsi. It was mostly Republic identification documentation, backdated birth certifications and the setups for chain codes, but the last document was unexpected. Alpha ran his fingers over that flimsi gently.</p><p>It was an adoption certificate, partially filled out. It was backdated to when Alpha had first gotten Squad 17, and it had Cody’s name on it, as well as the names or numbers of all of his squadmates.</p><p>Cody couldn’t help being a little nervous, but it abated when Alpha’s face softened.</p><p>Alpha ran his fingers over the list gently, again.</p><p>“You really think they would want this?” He asked, reminiscently. Cody nodded. How could they not? They had always wanted to be like Alpha, all of them.</p><p>“Of course,” he replied, “We just need a good last name.”</p><p>“Any ideas?” Alpha said quietly.</p><p>Cody smiled wryly.</p><p>“Ta'raysh-E'tad. I’ve been thinking of this for a while,” he said, “And, well, I may have told Fett that it was my name when I was mad at him.”</p><p>Alpha looked touched, but couldn’t keep himself from snickering.</p><p>“And all I did was yell at him about parenting techniques,” he said, “I feel like I missed an opportunity.”</p><p>“Well, he’s still around,” Cody said dryly, “You can also discuss names with him if you want.”</p><p>“I’ll pass,” Alpha snarked back, “I’d rather discuss names with you.”</p><p>“A vastly superior discussion partner,” Cody nodded, “Wise choice.”</p><p>Alpha smacked him gently on the shoulder, and turned his attention back to the paper.</p><p>“You didn’t fill it in,” he observed, “The last names, for any of us.”</p><p>“I did want to make sure you liked the idea,” Cody smiled, “It’s your name too.”</p><p>“Of course I do,” said Alpha, and started writing in the names on the flimsi.</p><p>They sat together in companionable silence, filling out the forms.</p><p>“First name?” Cody asked, looking at Alpha.</p><p>“Don’t need one,” Alpha grunted back.</p><p>Cody raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“And you don’t look up every time a CC says ‘Alpha?’” he asked.</p><p>Alpha waved his hand.</p><p>“A quarter of the human Jedi look up when someone shouts for Antilles,” he dismissed, “It’s not like natborns all have completely unique names either.”</p><p>“I’m not sure, I still like Sevi,” Cody grinned mischievously, a plan growing in his mind.</p><p>“If I get a first name,” Alpha growled, “It will not be a phonetic amalgamation based on my number. Some of us have dignity, unlike Twenty-eight.”</p><p>Cody snickered as Alpha sniffed disdainfully. He finalized a name for his plan: Operation Get Alpha a Name. Not the most creative, but he believed in clarity in operational terminology. Now he just needed to get the ball rolling, so to speak.</p><p>“Tate’s not that bad,” he teased back, “You’re just a grump.”</p><p>“Don’t start with me, Kid,” Alpha threatened playfully, “Or I’ll show you just how grumpy I am.”</p><p>Maybe he should start Operation Get Alpha a Name another day.</p><p>...</p><p>Alpha thought about that conversation, later. Cody hadn’t pushed on the topic of a first name, after his teasing, and they had sat in silence filling out forms for quite some time.</p><p>It was a comfortable silence, though, and Alpha had begun to think. He didn’t quite understand the importance of names; it was good to be called by something other than a number, but Alpha already had that. Maybe he didn’t quite understand the appeal of being called by one word over another. It was just a sound you responded to.</p><p>Obviously being called by a number was dehumanizing, but ‘Alpha’ wasn’t a number. ‘Alpha’ was what his sons had called him. It was important.</p><p>Cody had been called away by a Cadet stuck in the water mains, again, so Alpha went to find Kenobi. The man was a good sounding board for normalcy, so long as it did not involve people trying to kill him.</p><p>Or, apparently, the laws of gravity. Alpha found him floating three feet above the deck with Zatt next to him, both with a lazy orbit of everyday objects circling them calmly.</p><p>Was that his stylus? He snatched it out of the air in front of Zatt, and inspected it. It was!</p><p>“Little thief,” he said affectionately. Zatt cracked his eye open and smiled, and then suddenly dropped to the floor with everything floating around him. At the sound of the crash, Kenobi gently lowered himself to the floor as well, and got up to check on his Padawan.</p><p>“And this, little one,” he said affectionately, poking Zatt in the nose, “Is why meditation mats are padded.”</p><p>Zatt giggled. Alpha couldn’t help smiling at the sight.</p><p>Obi-wan nodded to him in greeting, and sent Zatt off to play with his friends. Zatt ran out the door, already comming one of the Cadets to meet him in the swimming room.</p><p>Alpha resigned himself to permanently wet and slippery hallways for the fifth time that tenday.</p><p>“Names,” he opened the conversation with Kenobi, sitting on the meditation mat across from the other man, “Why are they important?”</p><p>Obi-wan blinked at him, and settled down again opposite him.</p><p>“Well, it varies by culture,” he said, “In the culture of the Clones, it is a valuable marker of your humanity. In other cultures, it is a sign of hopes for children. Anakin, for example, means ‘Upwards Movement,’ or maybe ‘Awakening,’ after his mother’s hopes for his freedom (1). Ahsoka means ‘Without Sorrow,’ and is a variant of the name of a great Togruta king (2).”</p><p>Alpha nodded, a bit dazed. Apparently names were very important after all.</p><p>“My own name,” Obi-wan continued, “Is something like ‘Belt of the Bay,’ and probably refers to my eyes (3). My culture has a tradition of naming after physical features, to make who you are referring to obvious.”</p><p>Not unlike some of Alpha’s brothers, Alpha supposed. Though mostly Clones were named after personality traits, due to every Clone looking alike.</p><p>“Alright,” Alpha said slowly, “So names are important as markers of identity and individuality, and ideal traits and hopes.”</p><p>Obi-wan nodded.</p><p>“I don’t know if I need a name,” Alpha said quietly.</p><p>“If you don’t want one, that’s your choice,” Obi-wan said, evenly, “But even if you don’t need or want one, please believe you deserve one.”</p><p>Alpha nodded, in consideration.</p><p>“Thanks,” He said gruffly, “Good talk.”</p><p>Obi-wan nodded at him in return as he got up and left. He supposed he had a lot of thinking to do.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody was surprised when Alpha came to his office again. He was also slightly concerned at the older man’s expression, which was caught half between wonder and trepidation.</p><p>“I think I’d like a first name,” Alpha said hesitantly, “But I don’t have any ideas for one.”</p><p>Cody nodded, slowly.</p><p>“Do you have any ideas?” Alpha continued.</p><p>Cody’s eyes widened, and he smiled.</p><p>“Maybe,” He said, and pulled out Obi-wan’s baby naming book.</p><p>“I haven’t seen that in ages,” Alpha muttered, looking at the battered datapad. Obi-wan had wanted it available to the men throughout the war, but Cody had decided to keep it in his office after one too many games of datapad frisbee.</p><p>“It’s free to anyone who wants to use it for legitimate purposes,” Cody replied calmly. Alpha raised his eyebrow, and then shook his head.</p><p>“I don’t want to know,” he sighed.</p><p>“You probably don’t,” Cody agreed, and turned on the datapad.</p><p>He’d had an entire presentation prepared on Why Alpha Should Get a Name, and he was slightly disgruntled that he didn’t have the chance to use it. But, well, it was always easier to convince Alpha to do something when it was Alpha’s idea.</p><p>He was stubborn that way.</p><p>Now to phase 2 of Operation Get Alpha a Name; actually getting him a name.</p><p>He turned on the pad and handed it to Alpha. Alpha handed it back.</p><p>Cody looked at Alpha in confusion. Alpha looked a bit hesitant again, and shrugged.</p><p>“I was hoping you could... give me some ideas?” He ventured.</p><p>Alpha... wanted Cody to name him?</p><p>Cody smiled, feeling a warmth in his chest. He and his squad had tried to get Alpha to this point since they were six. He wished his squadmates were here to see it.</p><p>He shook melancholy thoughts away. For all he knew, they could see it from where they were marching. The Jedi said that the dead became one with the Force, and that the Force was in all things, after all.</p><p>He recalled the list he and his squadmates had kept, for years, of names for Alpha. Some of them were more than a little odd, he still had no idea why Tango, or ‘05 as he was called then, wanted to name Alpha Rocket.</p><p>Alpha probably wouldn’t go for that one, even Tango had admitted it as they grew older, so Cody started with the more recent suggestions he’d added.</p><p>“Casey, or Alistar,” he suggested. Those two names had been the last his entire squad agreed on.</p><p>“What do they mean?” Alpha asked quietly.</p><p>“Casey means brave in battle,” Cody replied. They had picked that when news of Alpha’s initial success reached Kamino, before he was captured. Back when they thought Alpha was invincible.</p><p>“It’s alright,” Alpha said, with a hint of doubt.</p><p>“And Alistar means protector of men,” Cody finished. That had been the one they picked when Alpha was found with Kenobi after being thought dead for months.</p><p>“I... like that one. Can we test it out?” Alpha asked.</p><p>“Certainly, Alistar,” Cody replied. Alpha’s eyes grew large, and he nodded.</p><p>“That one,” he said, and smiled. Cody smiled back, and he liked to think his squadmates did too, from where they were marching far away.</p><p>“I still want to be Alpha in public, though,” Alpha added, “For now, at least.”</p><p>“But we can tell our family?” Cody asked. Alpha nodded, still smiling.</p><p>Cody smiled back, and his eyes widened when Alpha handed him the sheet of flimsi he had been writing on. It was the adoption certificate, the one that started this talk.</p><p>The line for ‘guardian of child’ was fully filled out: Alistar Ta’Raysh-Etad. He’d been wanting to see Alpha with a name for years, and when he saw Alpha’s new name, filled in just above Cody’s and the rest of his brothers’, he smiled. </p><p>What else could he do but to give his Alpha a hug?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Some Tattooone names seem to be Greek in origin, like Luke, which means light. I’ve decided that Anakin is a variant of the Greek verb ανακινεω (anakineo), which means to stir or awaken, but whose roots come from the prepositions ανα for up, and κινεω for movement. Greek is the only language I really know, so my guesses are less accurate for the rest of the names.<br/>2. Ahsoka is widely believed to be based on the name of an emperor of India. “Ashoka, also known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BC” -Wikipedia. I just googled the name meaning.<br/>3. ‘Obi’ is a kind of traditional Japanese belt or sash. ‘Wan,’ according to the internet, means a bay or inlet. I’ve improvised with how to connect the two. I really don’t speak Japanese.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Senior Padawan Caleb Dume runs into Hera Syndulla on a mission. Banter and awkward flirting ensues.<br/>Does it count as ‘meet cute’ if you’re getting shot at?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one’s a bit shorter, mostly because I’d done everything I wanted to for the plot.<br/>Updates might get sporadic, guys; I just went back to college. Engineering degree. Free time is going to become thin on the ground.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Caleb Dume glared at his captor defiantly. It as his first solo mission as a Senior Padawan, and he would admit that it was not going according to plan.</p><p>He knew he’d spent too much time around Skywalker and Kenobi.</p><p>He’d been infiltrating a spice smuggling ring as a fellow smuggler. He’d grown out his hair especially for the task, long enough for a short nerftail to hide his Padawan braid, and a soul patch.</p><p>He kind of liked the look. He might keep it.</p><p>What he did not like was the pirate pointing a blaster at his face. How come Skywalker and Kenobi got all the friendly pirates? He’d like to be kidnapped and given strong alcohol that he was not supposed to have as refreshment right now, but no, he was being held captive by a disgruntled Tholothian and his disreputable crew.</p><p>At least Stance wasn’t here. He’d never let Caleb live this down.</p><p>Of course, if Stance was here, the pirates would have gone down in a hail of fire as soon as they first punched Caleb, so perhaps it would have been nice, even if Caleb was teased.</p><p>“Now what were you doing poking around here, son? Want to taste the merchandise?” The pirate sneered, showing the results of years of poor dental hygiene. Yech.</p><p>But as long as he was monologuing, he was distracted.</p><p>He was about to try to get the keys off the pirate’s belt when he heard an explosion in the distance.</p><p>Maybe Stance got a bad feeling and decided to check things out? Caleb wasn’t supposed to be at the drop off point for another three hours, but Stance could do overprotective with the best of them.</p><p>The ‘best of them,’ of course, was Grey. </p><p>He blinked in surprise when a female Twi’lek about his age ran into the room and promptly stunned the pirate in front of him, and then turned toward him as well.</p><p>With her blaster up. She must think he was a pirate!</p><p>“Jedi!” He yelped. The Twi’lek blinked, but kept her blaster aimed at him, so he gently lifted some of the food wrappers and other clutter in the dirty storage room with the Force. She looked at him carefully, and lowered her blaster, so he gently swept the clutter into a pile in the corner and then lifted the pirate’s keys from his belt and unlocked his shackles. Then he went to find his blaster, the Twi’lek raised her eyebrow at him.</p><p>“Numa is not going to believe this,” she muttered, nudging the pirate, “Rescuing a Jedi.”</p><p>“I had him on the ropes!” He couldn’t help but protest, but the Twi’lek was unconvinced.</p><p>“Hera Syndulla,” The Twi’lek introduced herself, “Of the Ryloth Freedom Fighters.”</p><p>“Caleb Dume, Dantooine Enclave,” Caleb introduced himself, finally locating his blaster on the top of a pile of crates. That was when a pirate burst in- one who didn’t know Caleb was a Jedi.</p><p>“Kanan! Shoot her!” The dirty Human man ordered, only to fall with an expression of surprise as Caleb stunned him as well.</p><p>“Kanan?” Syndulla asked, not really worried but curious.</p><p>“I’m undercover as Kanan Jarrus, trying to track down the new strain of spice running to Corellia,” he explained absently.</p><p>“Spice? They’re slavers,” Syndulla replied.</p><p>Caleb blinked.</p><p>“It’s in these boxes,” he said, gesturing to the crates around him, “I haven’t bungled my mission that spectacularly.”</p><p>Syndulla pried open one of the crates and cursed.</p><p>“Great,” She said, “Spice and slaves. The Republic is going to be on our tail for this.”</p><p>Caleb blinked, and checked outside the door for other pirates.</p><p>“Why would they?” He asked, stunning another pirate in the corridor as she watched his back.</p><p>“They don’t like pirate activity, and only barely are willing to turn the other way when we free slaves,” she grumbled, “They’re going to label us a cartel for this.”</p><p>They made their way down the corridor, clearing rooms as they went. It was surprisingly natural working with Hera.</p><p>“Us?” Caleb asked, ducking a blaster bolt. Hera stunned the shooter.</p><p>“The Rylothian Freedom Fighters,” she replied as they arrived at the cockpit, only to be greeted with an Astromech droid of dubious origin.</p><p>“Womp-womp,” said the droid. It didn’t sound like any binary Caleb had ever heard.</p><p>Alarms were flashing on every panel.</p><p>“I knew they didn’t know how to fly, but I didn’t know it was this bad,” Caleb remarked, but then his eyes zoomed in on a large green alert, “Reactor meltdown?!”</p><p>“Chopper, where are the slaves?” Asked Syndulla urgently. The droid made some more ‘womp’ noises, and pulled up a schematic of the cargo freighter they were riding on.</p><p>“I’m not seeing anything,” Caleb said dubiously. If the droid had eyes, he would swear that it was looking at him like he was stupid.</p><p>Part of the schematic highlighted in green and started flashing. It was the forward compartment, which was put off-limits to the crew. Caleb guessed he knew the reason for it now.</p><p>“Come on!” Syndulla called, already out the door.</p><p>There were significantly less pirates in the corridors now, probably because Syndulla and Caleb had already stunned most of them, so it was a quick process to find the forward compartment and free the beings trapped there, three Twi’lek men and one older woman.</p><p>Syndulla spoke to them quietly in Rylothian, and gestured for them to follow. Caleb nodded as she went past, only to be grabbed and towed along.</p><p>“I do have an extraction planned,” he tried to assure her, only to be pulled into a ship docked to one of the air locks. The droid of dubious origin followed and sealed the docking hatch. There were more suspicious explosion noises and alarms from the other side.</p><p>“You can wait for extraction here. I don’t need the headache of any of my people aboard that vessel when the Republic arrives,” Syndulla muttered as she piloted the ship away from the freighter. The freighter didn’t look like it was long for the Galaxy.</p><p>“I’m not one of your people, I’m a Jedi,” Caleb objected. Syndulla gave him a flat look.</p><p>“And do your Jedi friends know you are here in time to pick you up before the freighter explodes?” She sighed.</p><p>Caleb blushed.</p><p>“Yeah,” he muttered, “It’s my first solo mission, so they’re keeping pretty close tabs</p><p>on me.”</p><p>Syndulla blinked at him.</p><p>“How old are you?” She asked.</p><p>“Seventeen,” Caleb muttered. Seventeen was a perfectly respectable age, or so he had thought, until a beautiful woman was looking at him like he was a kid.</p><p>Syndulla nodded absently, and they both jumped when the freed woman cackled behind them.</p><p>“Young lady, I’ll eat my left lekku if you’re over nineteen yourself!” She called.</p><p>Syndulla blushed.</p><p>“I’m eighteen,” she murmured, “And this is my second solo mission.”</p><p>The woman cackled again, the droid womp-whomping with her. The men were looking a little amused and smug.</p><p>Luckily, they were all distracted by a ship coming out of hyperspace.</p><p>Then another.</p><p>Caleb recognized one, it was the dropship that Stance and the squad were using. The other, he didn’t recognize. </p><p>His comm rang. He was not looking forward to this.</p><p>“Stance,” he answered evenly. Stance’s holo grinned at him.</p><p>“Caleb, you get into the weirdest situations,” he said jovially.</p><p>“That’s not true!” Caleb protested.</p><p>“How many times have we had to hoist you out of the vents?” Stance asked.</p><p>“How many times have I needed to hoist you out of the vents, Stance?” Caleb shot back.</p><p>“It’s my duty as your officer to make sure you don’t get into trouble alone,” Stance replied.</p><p>“I thought it was your duty to keep me out of trouble,” Caleb smiled. Stance gestured theatrically.</p><p>“That’s waaay above my pay grade,” he moaned. They were broken from their banter with a giggle.</p><p>Syndulla was laughing next to them.</p><p>“I’m guessing he’s your brother?” She asked, with a smile. Caleb nodded. In the holo, Rocket, Stance’s second in command, poked his head into the field of projection.</p><p>“You’ve made a friend!” He said, delighted.</p><p>Caleb blushed again.</p><p>“Hera Syndulla, call me Hera,” Hera introduced herself. Stance put his hand on Rocket’s face and pushed him back out of the projection.</p><p>“Nice to meet you, Hera,” Stance said respectfully, “I’m assuming you’re aboard the same small freighter we’re picking up Caleb’s lifesign from?”</p><p>Hera nodded.</p><p>“This is the Ghost, best ship in the Rylothian Freedom Fleet,” She said proudly. Stance smiled back.</p><p>“I’ve heard of you! The 501st have only good things to say about you guys,” Stance smiled.</p><p>“Also that they are completely insane,” Rocket said off-holo.</p><p>“Skywalker does not get to make objective decisions about other people’s sanity,” Stance replied, “And Hera looks sane enough.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Hera replied dryly.</p><p>“Can we have Caleb back, though? Our Commander will have our head if we returned without him,” Stance said equally dryly.</p><p>“I can think of worse places to be left,” Caleb shrugged.</p><p>“I’m flattered,” Hera deadpanned, “Dock with me, and get this guy out of my lekku, would you?”</p><p>Despite her somewhat cutting words, her tone was teasing. Caleb smiled at her. She smiled back.</p><p>“Nice to meet you, Kanan,” she joked, as Caleb was hoisted through the docking hatch by his brothers, “Give me a call sometime, will you?”</p><p>Her tone was teasing, and he didn’t have her number, so he knew she wasn’t serious. That didn’t stop him from joking back.</p><p>“Sure,” Caleb grinned, “Maybe we could fight some more pirates.”</p><p>“Is that what you kids call it nowadays?” Cackled the older Twi’lek woman. The last thing Caleb saw as the docking hatched closed was Hera’s face turning dark green at the same time his went bright red. He turned around, to the sniggers of his brothers.</p><p>“Very funny, you guys,” he told his squad, and slipped his hand into his pocket only to find a microchip.</p><p>No way.</p><p>He pulled it out and plugged it into his comm, only to discover the contact information of one Hera Syndulla.</p><p>Maybe she was serious after all. He grew hopeful at the thought.</p><p>“Caleb has a girlfriend!” Rocket burst out.</p><p>“She’s not my girlfriend!” He tried to defend. Stance meandered over and leaned on his shoulder.</p><p>“Yet,” Stance, the karker, added on.</p><p>It was going to be a long trip back home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, I love reviews!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Friends in Low Places</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When Fox met Vos. Little does he know, Vos has decided that he likes him.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Loving-fox-hours mentioned a Fox week on tumblr. I had this written before I really figured out what they meant.<br/>Whoops.<br/>No sense letting a good ticket go to waste, right?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fox sighed. He looked up, at the paperwork tormenting him, and then sighed again. Thire, standing at attention in front of him, looked concerned.</p><p>“Everything alright, sir?” He asked.</p><p>No, Fox wanted to say, I have not slept in the last thirty-six hours and you just reported that we have <em>somehow</em> managed to detain one of the Republic’s generals in the drunk tank overnight <em>before anyone noticed</em>. But that was not productive, and none of it was <em>Thire’s</em> fault, so he made a noncommittal gesture with his shoulders and sighed.</p><p>“Bring him in,” he said to Thire wearily. Thire patted his shoulder sympathetically, and went to get the troublesome prisoner. Fox put his helmet on. Best to be prepared.</p><p>When he first saw the Kiffar man shuffle in, Fox started to realize why his patrolmen thought he was an ordinary drunk. His dreadlocked hair was half-unraveled, his clothes were in rags, his facial paint was more smudge than stripe, and he didn’t smell <em>quite</em> like a Nabooan rose. Maybe a pickled Nabooan rose, if they pickled it in cheap liquor.</p><p>“And you are?” He sighed, eyeing the disreputable apparition. The apparition eyed him back, with a calculating gleam in his eye that didn’t match the general air of shabbiness about the man.</p><p>“Quinlan Vos, at your service!” The Kiffar bowed, and then straightened up. Between the gleam in his eye and his newly straightened spine, Fox could start to see how this man could be a Jedi. He still wasn’t impressed, or even totally convinced.</p><p>To hear his brothers tell it, Jedi were some kind of avenging angels, like the ones from the Moons of Iego. If he had a drink for every story a CC had told him about a Jedi saving his life, Fox would be drunker than this hooligan evidently was last night.</p><p>“Do you have any proof of your claim that you are a Jedi Knight?” Fox sighed. Vos blinked at him, and shrugged. His wrist binders unlatched by themselves, and floated off his wrists and onto Fox’s desk.</p><p><em>Lovely</em>. And here he thought they had been making headway with the concept of keeping someone in custody, but a Jedi was probably harder to hold than your average drunk.</p><p>Then Vos started to rummage around him his rags, and produced a silver cylinder.</p><p>Fox froze. The Jedi might be perturbed about being held overnight.</p><p>However, Vos didn’t turn it on, merely handed it over to Fox for inspection. Fox, having no clue what a Jedi’s lightsaber would look like, or how to differentiate it from a non-Jedi’s, took a 3D holoscan and appended it to the incident report.</p><p>“You can turn it on, you know,” Vos spoke, suddenly. Fox did not jump, but it was a close thing.</p><p>“It’s against regs for a Clone to discharge a weapon in the Coruscant Guard precinct without good reason,” he replied, absently. Vos looked at him with calculation in his eyes again. Fox was starting to dislike that look.</p><p>“The way to tell a Jedi ‘saber from a Sith’s is the color,” Vos said, almost... gently? He took the lightsaber from Fox, turned it quickly away from him, and ignited it. Plasma snapped to life, glowing a deep green, like some of the plants around the Senate.</p><p>“Sith ‘sabers are always red,” Vos continued, “While Jedi lightsabers tend to be either blue or green, though other colors do exist, like purple or yellow. If you ever come not contact with a Force user with a red lightsaber, who cannot produce Republic Jedi ID, detain them.”</p><p>“How?” Fox asked, almost against his will. He didn’t know why this Jedi was so informative, or why he kept looking at Fox like an interesting puzzle, but as long as the Jedi kept talking, Fox would keep listening.</p><p>“Overwhelming force is the best way,” Vos replied, “Overwhelming force, from a distance. Even a Jedi Master cannot deflect a hundred blaster bolts at once, so the Sith probably can’t either.”</p><p>“And to keep them?” Fox asked, holding up the wrist binders the Jedi had shed so casually earlier.</p><p>“Keep them on about three times the recommended dose of sedative for their species,” Vos grinned wryly, “And call the Jedi immediately.”</p><p>“Do the Jedi have a contact number for scenarios such as this?” Fox asked, taking notes on his HUD.</p><p>Vos looked at him, less calculatingly, and more with caution.</p><p>“You don’t already have a contact?” He asked, carefully. Fox shook his head, slowly. Vos frowned, but it didn’t seem to be at Fox, so Fox didn’t tense too much.</p><p>“I will get that fixed the next time I go before the Council,” Vos promised, with durasteel in his voice, “But until then, this is my personal comm. As a Jedi Shadow, I am trained to capture and detain Dark Force users, and I would be happy to either aid the Guard in capture or to take an already detained Force User into custody.”</p><p>Fox accepted the contact information with a small amount of amazement. He took his helmet off to better read the messy writing, and looked up again once he’d deciphered it to see Vos still staring at him.</p><p>“When was the last time you slept, Commander?” The Jedi asked, with a sudden gentleness in his voice.</p><p>“That’s not Jedi Business,” Fox tried to wave him away. The Jedi sighed.</p><p>“The well-being of the GAR is Jedi business,” Vos replied. Fox blinked at him.</p><p>“What do you need to get done before you sleep?” The Jedi changed tactics, looking at Fox significantly. Fox surveyed the piles of flimsiwork on his desk, mentally figuring when each was due.</p><p>“I have to do your release paperwork,” Fox said slowly, “And append it to your file.”</p><p>“Excellent!” Vos was cheerful suddenly, “Who better to help you fill out paperwork about me than me? I’m the resident expert on me!”</p><p>Fox looked at him a bit oddly, forgetting for a moment that he didn’t have his helmet on, but luckily Vos didn’t seem to notice. If Fox had looked at <em>Tarkin</em> like that... it didn’t bear thinking about.</p><p>“Firstly,” Vos had already seized the flimsi pile, “We check this, this, and this. Now- and this is important!- write ‘Detained for being an annoyance’ on this line. When the Council sees that, they’ll know what happened, and you don’t have to file a Jedi incident report, just an ordinary one.”</p><p>The ordinary incident report was much shorter. Thank goodness.</p><p>“Now, if you tick this column instead of this one,” Vos continued, “You don’t have to write an addendum to the report to get it filed, and if you sign here instead of here, the incident report written by the arresting officer can be substituted for one written by you.”</p><p>Fox watched in detached fascination as Vos filled out his own arrest and release paperwork in less than five minutes, occasionally presenting a page for him to sign.</p><p>“How do you know this?” He couldn’t help but ask, intrigued. Vos barely even looked up, but luckily, he didn’t seem offended.</p><p>“I’ve been arrested before,” he said, “Many times. When I was a Padawan, the Council started making me fill out a copy of the paperwork as punishment. I learned to be quick at it.”</p><p>“What did you get arrested for as a Jedi Shiny?” Fox couldn’t help but ask. Vos grinned at him, and gave him the last sheet of flimsi to sign.</p><p>“Oh, everything! Disturbing the peace, illegal podracing, illegal street racing, illegal marathon racing, grand theft speeder, grand theft meiloorun, underage intoxication, humiliation of public figure, impersonation of public figure, humiliation by impersonation of public figure, trespassing, the list goes on...” Vos rattled off. Fox stared at him with wide eyes.</p><p>“All for good causes, of course,” Vos assured him. Fox wasn’t reassured, but he signed the last piece of flimsi anyway, and put it into the holoscanner for filing.</p><p>Vos stood and bowed, and wasn’t that odd, being bowed to. Even <em>stranger,</em> to be bowed to by a Jedi  </p><p>“It’s been lovely to meet you, Commander Fox,” Vos said, “Now get some sleep.”</p><p>Fox blinked up at him, and blinked again as Vos swept out of his office. He shrugged and made his way to the barracks. Good soldiers follow orders, and he was fairly certain Vos outranked him. Besides, he wasn’t going to argue about being ordered to sleep.</p><p>He turned the brief, odd interaction over in his head for a minute as he changed, before deciding to just accept it. Sometimes good things happened to the Guard; this must be one of them.</p><p>He fell asleep quickly, and slept deeply. It had been a long day, and perhaps a good one, in some places.</p><p>He started to reevaluate his opinion the next time Vos came in, and started to prove how he had been voted ‘most obnoxious Jedi’ for fifteen years running. Despite his irritating presence, though, Vos started to grow on them all. Fox may be annoyed at the man and his showing up giving unsolicited drunk advice, but he wouldn’t trade it for Coruscant.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments are loved! I’m hoping to write more next week- I’m faintly making headway on my homework!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Joy was Just a Thing that They Were Raised On</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Arla has decided to get her memories unblocked. Feels and fluff ensue.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have acquired a beta reader! My little brother has graciously offered to help me out, so the grammar should improve.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jango was... hopeful. Arla had asked him to accompany her to the Jedi mind healers, so he did, and he had felt the hope rise in him when Arla started making queries about trying to undo the block on all of her memories.</p><p>Arla was visibly uncertain, looking at the Jedi in front of her. The Bothan looked back, steadily, but without any judgement or pressure.</p><p>“Are you sure you can undo it?” She asked again. The Bothan nodded, patiently. Arla twisted her hands together nervously.</p><p>“And there’s no chance it’ll wipe my remaining memories by accident, right?” She asked, more hesitant. The Bothan’s eyes widened, and she nodded, gently.</p><p>“The former Jedi who performed the original procedure was skilled enough in the mental arts to allow his work to be undone,” the Bothan reassured her, and then nodded toward Jango.</p><p>“Having your brother here may be helpful during the procedure,” the Bothan offered, “And I could have mental health services on standby if you believe that will be a concern. It is recommended that you stay at the mind healer’s for at least a week, after, to deal with any side effects of removing the block, as well as with the mental issues the block has suppressed.”</p><p>Arla nodded, looking at Jango hesitantly. He smiled back, tentative, and took her hand.</p><p>“I’ll be happy to be here as long as I am needed,” he said, “You would probably need a crowbar to pry me out.”</p><p>Arla turned to the Bothan and nodded.</p><p>The procedure was fairly simple, deceptively so, according to Jango. Arla laid back on a padded medical table with her eyes closed, and the Bothan and a Human woman stood with their hands at her temples for the better part of half an hour.</p><p>It wasn’t like when Jango had needed Dooku’s compulsion ripped out; didn’t seem to be in any pain, and hardly twitched while she was on the table. Jango was grateful for that.</p><p>She did start crying, though, and that wasn’t better. Her face didn’t move, and she made no noise, but tears started to leak out from under her closed eyelids.</p><p>He wished he could comfort her, but he had been warned that she would not be aware of her surroundings. All he could do was hold her hand.</p><p>The healers finally took their hands away from Arla, and she woke from her trance state with a little gasp. She kept staring, though, up at the ceiling, and kept crying.</p><p>“Arla?” Jango couldn’t help but prod. There was still a gap between them, one they were working on filling but present nonetheless. They weren’t close enough, yet, to trust implicitly; it would take time.</p><p>Arla nodded, slowly, and sat up. She looked at him, tears still streaming down her face, and gave a small nod. Then Jango found his arms full of older sister, clinging to him like she had when he had first told her who he was, the way they would when they were five and eight and terrified of the thunderstorms around their farm.</p><p>He hugged back, just as firmly, quietly glad that he wasn’t wearing his armor that day. Beskar made the most awful sound when it rubbed against plastoid, and he wasn’t planning on letting of Arla until she let go of him.</p><p>They stayed there for quite some time.</p><p>...</p><p>Arla was overwhelmed. She had known, intellectually, that the memories would be horrible, had known that there was a reason she had begged for them to be erased, to be hidden.</p><p>But it was another thing entirely to remember what had happened to her buire, to remember what Death Watch did, and then what she did for Death Watch. To know she was Demagolka (1), and to know why. She barely registered Jango calling her name, but she somehow found him, and clung to him like they did as scared children.</p><p>Think of the good things, she told herself, of the things you wanted back. So she concentrated on her childhood, what had happened before she turned eleven.</p><p>She thought of helping her buire in the fields, and eating dinner with her family every night. Dumping water over Jango’s head, and helping nau-Buir with cooking, and learning to shoot. Weeding the garden, tending the nunas, and the other endless chores with dha-Buir. But somehow, she and Jango still found time to argue.</p><p>He was just so irritating! How could she not fight with him, he would annoy her on purpose!</p><p>Come to think of it, that may be why their buire tried to keep them so busy. She smiled through her tears at the thought.</p><p>It took time, but eventually the tears stopped. The good memories helped, but so did the three years of distance she had from when she first broke the brainwashing. It wasn’t quite so immediate, though it was still horrible. She was a fully developed person now, independent of the brainwashing, and that helped too.</p><p>She took a shuddery breath and sat up, removing her head from Jango’s shoulder.</p><p>“Are you alright?” He asked awkwardly, probably well aware of how ridiculous the question was. She sniffled, but nodded anyway.</p><p>“Probably as alright as you are,” she tried to joke, only for his eyes to soften a in sympathy. She’d seen how he looked at the Clones, with a guilt in his eyes that wouldn’t ever go away.</p><p>“I need to take off my armor, though,” she continued, and he nodded. She stripped to her kute, methodically, setting the armor in a neat pile on the exam table. Jango seemed to understand what she was doing, probably because he’d been through something like this himself.</p><p>As she was removing the armor plates, she spoke to the mind healer quietly. She knew she would need help, the kind of help that only the healer’s ward would provide, but she wanted a little more time with her brother first. She would spend the afternoon with Jango, and probably Boba, and return to the ward that evening. She wanted some time with her family, without the lack of memories between them. The healer nodded, and stepped out.</p><p>“Should I contact Kryze?” Jango tried to ask, “To pick it up?”</p><p>Arla shook her head.</p><p>“Kryze did not give me that armor,” she hissed, “She just helped me repaint it. It goes to Boba.”</p><p>She left unsaid that Death Watch had given her the armor, and there was no way in haran (2) she would give them any beskar. Maybe she would have once, but never again.</p><p>Jango froze for a moment, and then nodded.</p><p>“Thank you,” He whispered, “We lost everything but my helmet when I was sold.”</p><p>Arla hugged him again. She wished, not for the first time, that Jango had had an easier life, that he had been adopted by another farm family on Concord Dawn and had grown up in peaceful obscurity, maybe with a few siblings and pets.</p><p>The wish was made even more bittersweet with her newly returned memories. She was hit by an image of Jango, gaps in his teeth, mud on his overalls, and hair tangled into a bird’s nest, holding a tooka kit like it was his best friend. It probably was.</p><p>“Come on,” she replied, picking up her armor, “Let’s get this to your ship.”</p><p>“It’s Boba’s ship now,” Jango corrected wistfully. His eyes went far away, seeing something she couldn’t. She fought not to retreat to her own memories; focus on today, not yesterday. Dwelling on the past leaves you vulnerable. She needed to focus on the good parts of her past, not the bad, or she would go insane.</p><p>Dwelling on the past also left Jango utterly open to her ruffling his hair. He squawked in indignation, and it sounded much different from when he was six. His deeper voice made it even funnier. He glared at her petulantly and started to bicker, once again reminding her of when he was six, as he trailed after her toward the Slave I.</p><p>...</p><p>Boba looked up from the underside of the control panel as he heard someone come aboard the Slave. It was... Dad, and Aunt Arla, going by their voices.</p><p>Even though the vast majority of Dantooine’s adult population technically all had the same voice, most of them had speech variations. Dad was the only one who dragged out his vowels and emphasized his consonants in the accent of Concord Dawn, though Aunt Arla had started picking it back up as well.</p><p>Actually, Aunt Arla’s accent sounded even stronger than Dad’s today. Boba shrugged, and kept half an ear on their conversation as he tweaked the motivator. Han had won their last race, which would just not stand. The Slave was better than that hunk of junk any day.</p><p>They were bickering, which was... weird, but normal. It had confused Boba immensely how Dad could just suddenly revert to a preteen in the presence of his sister, and how she would snap and squabble back just the same.</p><p>It was also incredibly entertaining, and provided some interesting nuggets of information.</p><p>“Says the man who slept with a stuffed nuna chick and a security blanket until he was nine!” Aunt Arla responded to some comment of Dad’s. Boba hid a snigger. They must not have noticed him, half under the control console as he was.</p><p>And he certainly wasn’t going to tell he was there. This was entirely too much fun!</p><p>“Mr. Cluck and Binkie were soft and warm,” Dad said with great dignity, “Unlike the heart of my sister. And which of us was it that ate an entire uj cake (3) in one sitting and tried to blame it on the massifs?”</p><p>Really? This was gold!</p><p>“At least I didn’t want to grow up to be a piece of heavy machinery!” Aunt Arla shot back. There was a pause.</p><p>“You’re having me on,” Dad said, with uncertainty in his some.</p><p>“Nope,” Aunt Arla replied, a smile in her voice, “When you were three, you desperately wanted to grow up to be a hover combine.”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>Boba couldn’t take it anymore- he started laughing. Through his laughter, he vaguely registered a silence.</p><p>“We have an eavesdropper,” Aunt Arla finally said, as he was winding down.</p><p>“We do,” his Dad agreed.</p><p>“Did you know he was here?” Aunt Arla continued.</p><p>“I did not,” Dad replied.</p><p>And then Boba’s ankles were seized, and he was yanked out from under the control panel.</p><p>“Enjoying yourself, son?” Dad asked, with a raised eyebrow. Boba couldn’t help but to start laughing again.</p><p>“Colt’s going to love this!” He wheezed. So would Han and Lando, but Colt had always seemed especially amused when Jango was embarrassed.</p><p>“He’s not going to hear it, is he?” Dad asked, with a threat in his voice.</p><p>Boba contemplated trying to mislead Dad, who always seemed to know when he was lying. He gave it up as a lost cause, and instead waited until Dad let go of his ankles.</p><p>Then, grinning like a loon, he hopped up and started running.</p><p>...</p><p>Colt looked up from the meeting he was having with his Buir over the education for the six-year-olds. There was the sound of commotion in the distance. He could hear it echoing through the corridors of the Minstrel of the Dawn, heading steadily for Colt’s office.</p><p>He looked up at Buir, who was suppressing a smile. Evidently she heard it too.</p><p>“It was your decision to keep them, Colt,” she admonished gently.</p><p>Keep them? That meant it was someone he adopted which... didn’t really narrow it down.</p><p>Let’s see, Han was off planet with Lando, Rancor Squad was watching the nursery, the Littles were all supposed to be doing their homework...</p><p>He was counting off everyone on his fingers when Boba burst in. Good thing, too, he’d almost run out of fingers.</p><p>“Hide me!” His little brother said, and dove behind the desk. Jango and Arla burst through the door right behind him.</p><p>“Where is he?!” Jango questioned with a playfully dangerous tone in his voice. Arla was almost cackling beside him, though with guilt write large in her eyes. What had happened?</p><p>“Are you alright?” He heard his Buir whisper to Arla, who looked a bit surprised before nodding.</p><p>“I just got the memory block removed,” she explained quietly, as Jango stopped playfully ranting about finding Boba, “I will be alright for a little while longer, so long as I focus on the good. I’m going to check myself into the mind healer’s tonight.”</p><p>Buir nodded, and then gestured for the conversation to continue. Boba popped his head out from under the desk and looked up at Colt.</p><p>“Did you know dad had a stuffed nuna named Mr. Clucks?” He laughed.</p><p>“I was nine!” Jango protested. Colt raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“And you decided this fact was important enough to risk your father’s wrath by telling us?” He asked facetiously back. Boba nodded eagerly.</p><p>“Carry on,” Colt said, and settled in to listen, interested. Jango made an indignant noise, and tried to get Boba into a headlock. Boba dodged, and hid behind Colt. Colt wasn’t as happy about this situation, but luckily, Arla stepped in.</p><p>“Didn’t you call that little tooka kit that kept following you around Neener?” She asked, faux carelessly, “Because it kept taunting the massifs, and jumping into your coveralls to hide?”</p><p>Jango shot Arla a betrayed look. Colt barely kept himself from cooing at the mental image of a Cadet with a tooka in his overalls.</p><p>“What else can you tell us?” Colt asked eagerly. Jango groaned, but stopped trying to attack his family.</p><p>So they passed the rest of the afternoon listening to stories of a small farmhouse on Concord Dawn, and the tookas and nunas and massifs and humans that lived there.</p><p>He’d never seen Jango go quite that red before.</p><p>At the end of the afternoon, when Arla left to go back to the healers, Colt smiled, nodded, and wished her well.</p><p>He also made a note to set aside some armor for when she got out; she had mentioned that she had given up her beskar. Maybe she could be convinced to take theirs, like Jango was.</p><p>He’d never had an aunt before. It seemed fun, so far. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mando’a: ‘of Demagol’, a historical scientist who performed human experimentation on children. Colloquially, a war criminal, the worst of the worst.<br/>2. Mando’a: cosmic destruction, war devastation, the Mandalorian hell equivalent.<br/>3. A Mandalorian pastry, a fairly simple cake glazed generously with spicy syrup.</p><p>Notes on Arla: She’s kind of glossed over in canon, so I had to make some things up. I’ve mentioned that she has eyes similar to Cody, which as far as I know is completely noncanon, but she was depicted as blond in one of the comics. I decided to keep that. Some people say that she dyed her hair, due to Jango’s actor Temuera Morrison being of Maori descent, but I decided she’s naturally blond, like Rex. <br/>Even in the real world, some people of Pacific Islander descent have naturally blond hair. In fact, in the Solomon Islands, about five to ten percent of the population is naturally blond. Researchers have found that the gene mutated for their hair color, TYRP1, is different than the gene mutated in European blonds, suggesting that Oceanic and European peoples adapted blond hair color independently. <br/>All that to say, yes, she’s naturally blond.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Daisy Daisy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s Cal and Fritz. Need I say more?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was a suggestion from my little brother/beta reader, who also suffers from severe allergies but with different symptoms. It kind of spiraled from there.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was an accident, honest.</p><p>Cal had been bored. Again. And he didn’t want to make any more trouble for Master and Commander, so he and Fritz tried to be good, they really did.</p><p>They made it a full three days before they’d done all their homework, and run all the obstacle courses three times, and had been chased out of the hydroponics bays at least six times. The only reason they weren’t chased out of the weaving room was Cal knowing where the best places to hide were.</p><p>In short, they were bored.</p><p>So they started to brainstorm, if only to have something to do.</p><p>“We could build a fort in one of the observation compartments,” Fritz offered.</p><p>“We did that last Centaxday,” Cal countered, and Fritz nodded thoughtfully.</p><p>“We could try to go exploring again, see if we can get a speeder,” Cal put forward, but Fritz shook his head.</p><p>“We’re trying to stay out of trouble, remember? Stealing a speeder would not stay under that category,” he corrected, and Cal ha to agree with him.</p><p>They sighed, and looked around the small room they were hiding out in. Technically, it wasn’t a very good place to hide; it was Cal’s berth room, right next to Master Tapal’s quarters. However, Cal spent so little time in it due to turning the vents into his own personal playground that it was rarely the first place anyone looked for him.</p><p>Cal looked around thoughtfully, trying to find an idea. His gaze drifted around the room, settling momentarily on the posters on the walls, his closet, and his desk before finally coming to rest on the pressed flowers on his shelf. He tilted his head. That looked promising.</p><p>“Fritz,” He said thoughtfully, “Master Tapal likes plants, right?”</p><p>Fritz nodded, unsure where he was headed with his statement. Cal felt his smile widen.</p><p>“Well, as devoted Padawans,” he started.</p><p>“And Cadets,” Fritz cut in, and Cal nodded in acknowledgment.</p><p>“And Cadets,” he continued, “It’s our responsibility to cheer up our master and help create a good working environment.”</p><p>Fritz nodded, but looked doubtful.</p><p>“Since when have we done that?” He asked.</p><p>“Since about three minutes ago, hush,” Cal corrected absently. Fritz settled down, and raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“Know any places we can get any small buckets?” Cal asked with a grin.</p><p>And thus the Teleporting Potted Plants were born. It may have been a prank, but it was a harmless one.</p><p>Stage one was simple. Cal and Fritz went out to the prairies and collected a decent amount of the local flora; mostly wildflowers, with the occasional grass as well. They potted them in old ration trays, and kept them well watered and gave them some plant food that they nicked from the hydro bays.</p><p>Stage two was more complex. Cal and Fritz started with one plant, and moved it around to follow Master Tapal through the vents. The next day, they added another, and the next day another, and then another.</p><p>The plants were put into Master Tapal’s office in the morning, where he was surprised to find them. Then, when Master Tapal left for midmeal, they were moved through the vents to the training area where Master Tapal exercised in the afternoons with Cal. Then, of course, they were moved back to his office while he cleaned himself off (Lasats had a lot of fur, which made showering time-consuming), and stayed there until latemeal. Finally, they were moved to Master Tapal’s quarters for the night.</p><p>Master Tapal took to being followed around by potted plants with quiet dignity and slight trepidation, but seemed to relax after a week when nothing happened except more plants showing up mysteriously.</p><p>A cardinal mistake.</p><p>Fritz and Cal grinned at each other as they readied Stage 3 of their plan. The plants they had gathered were starting to die, as wildflowers were notoriously difficult to keep in a pot for long, so they trimmed the flowers, washed them thoroughly, and then did their research to make sure none of the flowers they had were toxic to Lasats or humans.</p><p>It was a wonder they were let into the archives anymore, but he supposed even Madame Nu might enjoy some pranks.</p><p>There was an assembly later that day in the mess hall of the Albedo Brave, and Master Tapal would be speaking for at least fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes was definitely long enough for Cal and Fritz to find their way to the circulating fan for the cafeteria and dump the baskets of petals in. If they timed it just right, they would get flower confetti out of the vents as soon as Master Tapal finished his speech.</p><p>They could hear the faint echoes of the Lasat speaking as they waited above the fan. Prior experimentation said that the fan took around fifteen seconds to circulate particles into the mess hall, so when Tapal started the end of his speech, Cal gave the signal to Fritz and they both dumped their baskets of petals into the vents.</p><p>“Thank you for your perseverance and commitment,” Master Tapal was saying, “We should be eating vegetables for more than half our food by winter, and by spring, we will rely on rations only for protein intake.”</p><p>The entire mess hall erupted in cheers, and Cal and Fritz smirked at each other as they heard Master Tapal give a mutter of confusion when the petals hit the open air through the vents.</p><p>Then, however, they heard something unusual. The cheers subsided much sooner than they should have, only to be replaced with... sneezes? It started gradually, first one sneeze, and then another, and then five, twenty, a hundred, until the entire hall echoed with the thunderous bellows of sneezing Clones.</p><p>Master Tapal appeared in Cal’s comm holo.</p><p>“Cal,” He said with great dignity, “Please report to the mess hall.”</p><p>Cal and Fritz grimaced at each other, and made their way through the vents.</p><p>As they approached the cafeteria, Fritz started to sneeze too. Cal was incredibly confused.</p><p>Master Tapal met them in the hall, as groups of wheezing Clone were starting to make their way outside.</p><p>“What, precisely, did you plan on doing this time?” He asked, somewhat exasperated. Cal and Fritz exchanged a glance that was broken by Fritz sneezing again.</p><p>“We wanted to give you petal confetti for your speech,” Cal said, as Fritz didn’t seem to be able to talk right now. Master Tapal sighed and nodded.</p><p>“What flowers did you use?” He asked.</p><p>“Some wildflowers,” Cal shrugged, “Fritz never reacted like this before.”</p><p>Fritz nodded in agreement between sneezes.</p><p>“You also never ground them up and released all their pollen into the air supply before,” Master Tapal pointed out.</p><p>“We didn’t mean to,” Cal looked down. He honestly didn’t! He just wanted a little color for the meeting. Master Tapal looked at him, and sighed.</p><p>“I understand you didn’t mean to, and that this was not malicious,” Tapal said gently, “But actions have consequences, so you’ll need to clean the mess hall up. None of the clones can come in here until all the pollen is filtered out of the air.”</p><p>“What about Fritz?” Cal asked. Fritz was still sneezing.</p><p>“Fritz will wait outside the door until you’ve gotten a sample of all the flowers in this mess, and then he will bring them to the healer’s and get allergy tested with them to figure out which one the Clones are allergic to,” Master Tapal, “We’re lucky the Sepratists never stumbled upon this.”</p><p>Cal and Fritz both nodded, and Cal began to pick up the flower bits. It wasn’t too bad as punishments went, but it was still boring.</p><p>Maybe they should have just built a fort after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s Fox’s naming day!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m back!<br/>I’ve decided I despise the C programming language, and sigsegv faults specifically. Don’t expect rapid updates until about June.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thire grinned, not quite maniacally, but still wide enough for Tate to look over at him, concerned.</p><p>“What now?” His Alpha sighed, shaking his head in mixed trepidation and amusement.</p><p>“It’s Fox’s naming day soon,” Thire replied, “Do you think he’d like a surprise?”</p><p>Due to clones being decanted in batches and often having the same birthday as their squads, many had taken to celebrating when they had gotten names instead. It spread the celebrations around, and helped to celebrate individuals instead of groups.</p><p>“What kind of surprise?” Tate asked mildly, “Because if it involves anything sticky, wet, glittery, or slimy, he may demote us both to Cadets.”</p><p>“You’re no fun,” Thire complained.</p><p>“That’s me,” Tate smiled, “No fun.”</p><p>Then he ruffled Thire’s hair. Thire tried to ruffle his hair back, but Tate dodged, and they tussled playfully for a while until Corsac wandered in to the forward Officer’s Lounge and looked flatly at them.</p><p>“I was told to meet here by an anonymous Cadet,” he said evenly, “And I doubt that he was acting under his own authority. I also doubt that I was invited to watch you two wrestle each other off the couch, again, and destroy another sitting table.”</p><p>“I take it back, Tate,” Thire said, “It’s Corsac that’s no fun.”</p><p>“I’m so glad I’ve moved up on your fun scale,” Tate replied, “But I feel like I have to let you know that Corsac’s always been like that.”</p><p>Corsac’s expression didn’t change, but he crossed his arms.</p><p>“Alright, alright, Cor,” Tate muttered, “Give us a moment.”</p><p>He got up, managing to get one more tweak in to Thire’s nose, and sat on the couch like a civilized person again. Thire followed, pouting theatrically. Corsac raised an eyebrow, managing to look even more unimpressed than he already did.</p><p>That, of course, was when Vos burst in.</p><p>“What’d I miss?” He panted, dropping down onto another chair across from them. Corsac’s unimpressed look shifted to him, and Vos shrugged expressively.</p><p>“I was on the Starbird three minutes ago when the Cadet found me,” he said, “You couldn’t have commed me or something?”</p><p>The Starbird was normally a twenty minute walk away. Vos had made excellent time.</p><p>“We didn’t want Fox to find out, and you tend to hang around him on and off,” Thire shrugged.</p><p>“Are we pranking him?” Vos perked up.</p><p>“Sort of,” Thire shrugged, “It’s his naming day in two tendays.”</p><p>Vos blinked, and then smiled.</p><p>“Ah! I know a lot of birthday pranks, but I don’t know how many translate. We can throw some grain-flour at him, that’s good luck, and we can pull his earlobes, and put his face in a cake. Ooh! We could grease his nose!,” Vos started to list (1).</p><p>Thire looked at him slantwise, as did Tate. Corsac just looked tired.</p><p>“Those are actually real traditions,” Vos tried to defend himself, but was cut off.</p><p>“I was thinking we get Senator Chuchi out here so they could spend some time together?” Thire suggested. Corsac nodded, while Vos looked disappointed. Thire made a note to supervise him closely around Fox.</p><p>“Isn’t she coming out here in another two months?” Tate asked. Thire nodded.</p><p>“Yes, except it’s one month, three tendays, and six days,” he said, “Fox has been keeping count. He has a flimsi pinned to his wall with the remaining days, and marks one off every night before bed.”</p><p>“We could get her to jump out of a cake!” Vos suggested. He was treated to another round of unimpressed looks.</p><p>“Our main problem will probably be getting the Senator here. Any ideas?” Corsac asked, electing to ignore Vos. The Jedi shrugged, and dropped to a slouch beside them on the couch.</p><p>“Actually, I think I do have an idea,” Thire said, and smiled. Vos perked up.</p><p>“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” He asked Thire. Thire grinned back, and Vos punched in a comm number on his bracer.</p><p>“Secret weapon!” He cackled. The holographic figure of Yma Chuchi blinked up at his words, and raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“Did you dial me by accident again, dear?” She asked.</p><p>...</p><p>Fox was deeply suspicious. Everyone around him was up to something.</p><p>If he were a less self-aware man, he might not know that statements like that made him sound like a delusional paranoiac. Fox did know, but he also had proof of the plot, unless he’d hallucinated Thire and Vos giggling like schoolchildren in a deserted hallway.</p><p>Now that was a sight seared into his eyeballs.</p><p>Even Corsac was acting slightly differently than usual, occasionally being unwilling to tell Fox where he had been over the course of the day at dinner. Fox didn’t push; he trusted Corsac far more than Thire or Vos.</p><p>Corsac had never dropped a can of paint on his head.</p><p>He was surprised, one morning, when Corsac grunted in what sounded like realization over firstmeal.</p><p>“It’s your name day tomorrow, Fox,” he said, “Will you be able to take some time off to celebrate together?”</p><p>Fox thought about it, mentally calculating the altitudes of the flimsiwork stacks on his desk, and nodded.</p><p>“If I cut my workout short today,” he said thoughtfully, “And work tomorrow morning, I should be done by mid meal.”</p><p>“Good,” said Corsac, “I’ll hold you to that.”</p><p>Fox raised his eyebrow, but nodded. Corsac wasn’t joking. If he wasn’t done by about midday tomorrow, he would probably find himself slung over his buir’s shoulder like a sack of tubers and carried off to this nebulous celebration.</p><p>That wasn’t the first unusual thing that happened that day, either. Mount Flimsiwork on his desk seemed to be significantly diminished from what he remembered it being. The Cadets giggled at him as he walked through the halls.</p><p>Even normally serious and professional Stone had the corners of his eyes tilted up in a smile when he thought Fox wasn’t looking. Thire hadn’t turned up for the whole day, not even for the midmeal Command meeting. Neither had Vos.</p><p>The only reason Fox hadn’t started jumping at shadows yet was Corsac walking next to him. His buir would protect him from his brothers.</p><p>... of course, if buir was distracted by Tate...</p><p>That didn’t really bear thinking about. His brothers loved him, they wouldn’t terrorize him too much, hopefully.</p><p>The weirdness didn’t stop on his actual naming day either. Corsac showed up at his door with two sets of rations in hand.</p><p>“Breakfast in bed,” he grunted, at Fox’s confused look, and they sat and ate together on the opposite sides of Fox’s unusually empty desk.</p><p>He’d almost forgotten what color it was, it was so covered in flimsiwork usually. Corsac stayed and helped where he could with the paperwork, and generally helped the time go faster. Fox managed to get everything done by mid morning, so Corsac suggested a workout together.</p><p>It had been ages since Fox trained with his buir; it was a nice naming day treat. After they had showered, Corsac checked his chrono and started to shepherd Fox back into the Circle of Steel.</p><p>They were headed toward the mess hall, which was a bit confusing. Fox had already eaten, and so had Corsac.</p><p>“Hankering for seconds?” He tried to tease Corsac, only to get a small smile back for his troubles.</p><p>“I want dessert,” Corsac deadpanned, “I didn’t get any fruit yet today.”</p><p>Fox grimaced. The taste of the rations could linger in a man’s mouth for hours.</p><p>He couldn’t wait for the grain crops to start coming in. He’d heard some recipes he wanted to try, something called ‘oat-meal.’</p><p>He almost didn’t notice that the mess hall’s lights were off when he stepped through the door. He definitely noticed when they came back on, though.</p><p>“SURPRISE!”</p><p>...</p><p>Riyo crouched behind a a table with Yma, hiding a giggle in her hand. It had taken some pretty impressive shuffling of her schedule, and one of her aides staying on Coruscant to attend some functions that she had been supposed to, but she managed to get three days on Dantooine, a month before her scheduled vacation.</p><p>Yma had called her two tendays ago about a surprise for Fox, and she had been immediately on board.</p><p>She got to surprise Fox for his naming day, and she got to get off of Coruscant and see him sooner. In her opinion, it was a win-win.</p><p>Yma poked her in the side and gave her a mock severe look. She must be making noise. Next to them, Vos and Thire both had their mouths covered by Tate, who was himself grinning like a loon.</p><p>Other men from the Guard were hiding behind tables as well, each with smiles on their faces and hungry looks toward the cakes.</p><p>While Riyo had only arrived on Dantooine that morning, Yma had been there for two days already, taking over one of the kitchens on the Circle of Steel and churning out cakes in industrial quantities. She’d already faced numerous attempts at sneak tasting, but she maintained that Fox should get the first slice. It was his naming day, after all.</p><p>They heard footsteps approach, talking companionably. Tate nodded at them; it must be Fox and Corsac. Corsac has been assigned to keep Fox busy and away from the mess hall while they set everything up.</p><p>Fox came through the door, looking slightly preoccupied. That was their cue!</p><p>Routine, as the most reliable of the Guard at the party, had been assigned to the lights, and he turned on every one in the mess hall while the rest of them jumped up shrieking gleefully.</p><p>“Surprise!” She yelled, echoed by every other person in the hall. Fox, to his credit, didn’t quite hit the ceiling, but he did hit Corsac as he jumped back in startlement, and they both went down in a heap.</p><p>Riyo started to make her way over to the pile of clones in the doorway, sighing in relief as Fox and Corsac both sat up with groans. Fox locked eyes with her, and his already startled expression somehow became even more surprised.</p><p>“Happy naming day, Fox,” she said, hiding a laugh.</p><p>“Riyo,” He said in surprise, as she held a hand out to help him up, “You’re here.”</p><p>“It’s this keen observational capacity of his that led to Fox being appointed head of the Coruscant Guard,” said Thire, who had caught up to them along with Yma.</p><p>Fox, still operating mostly on autopilot, smacked him on the back of the head. Riyo couldn’t help giggling at them both.</p><p>Tate helped Corsac up, and Riyo started to gently pull Fox back to the table with their cake. Fox blinked at, still confused.</p><p>“Wheat harvest isn’t scheduled for another month,” he said, tilting his head.</p><p>“Main wheat harvest, yes,” Thire agreed, “The test crop was ready last week. We wanted it to be a surprise.”</p><p>“I was very surprised,” Fox agreed.</p><p>“He was so surprised,” Corsac groused, “That I can feel it in my spleen.”</p><p>“Sorry buir,” Fox looked a little bit shamefaced. Corsac patted his shoulder in forgiveness.</p><p>“No worries, Ad (2),” he said gruffly, “Next time, I know not to stand behind you when you’re being surprised.”</p><p>“Next time?” Fox murmured in trepidation, but was distracted by Vos, who pinched his nose quickly.</p><p>“What was that for?” Fox complained, batting Vos’s hand away, “And why the grease?”</p><p>“So that bad luck slides right off of you!” Vos replied cheerily. Riyo shook her head at the Jedi’s weirdness, and leaned over to Fox after he finished wiping his nose off.</p><p>“Pantorans have different birthday traditions,” she murmured, and kissed him.</p><p>“I like that one better,” Fox said, when they broke free a while later.</p><p>“That’s cheating!” Vos tried to object, and he and Thire started to squabble.</p><p>“Happy nameday, dear,” Yma said, as she put a slice of cake in front of Fox, watching everyone around him with wonder in his eyes.</p><p>“Yeah,” he replied, with a smile, “It is.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. According to my research, these are all actual birthday traditions from around the world, from the Caribbean, Hungary, Venezuela and Canada respectively. </p><p>2. Mando’a: child, kid</p><p>I love comments! And I won’t say no to programming tips.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. The Gambler(s)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alistar has to tell his name to his friends, loved ones, and those he merely tolerates. <br/>Some of it goes easier than others.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I think that I’ll shift to a weekly update schedule. It’s been working out well.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alpha- Alistar, he reminded himself, his name was Alistar now- couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous when he walked into the Officer’s Lounge on the Negotiator after Cody. Especially since his ad seemed to be in a theatrical mood, after they had finished filling out the paperwork that would grant them legal status in the Republic.</p><p>“May I present,” Cody flourished, that boy had been spending way too much time with Kenobi, “Alistar Ta’Raysh-Etad.”</p><p>The room blinked at him, and then Alpha was being hugged by multiple people at once. He let it happen for a couple moments and then shifted slightly, signaling to his family that he was starting to get uncomfortable. They let go, some more reluctantly than others, until Alp- Alistar was free to seat himself on a couch and talk with them.</p><p>Well, free except for Zatt clinging to his leg. Alistar had become pretty certain that Nautolans were part limpet by it this point, or maybe it was just Zatt.</p><p>He gently tugged the kid free and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of tubers. Zatt giggled as Alistar made his way to the sofa and gently swung him off onto the cushions.</p><p>“Congratulations, Alistar!” Obi-wan smiled at him, genuine joy in his eyes. Alistar smiled back, and glanced around at everyone else as well; they were happy for him. It was so nice, to be around people who were happy that he was healing.</p><p>They stayed there for some time, talking about nothing in particular, from how Alistar chose his name and wandering though other subjects like Squad 17 and childhood friends that were no longer with them.</p><p>Eventually, it grew late, and they needed to part ways to return to their own quarters. Zatt had already fallen asleep, sandwiched between Obi-wan and Alistar. After hemming and hawing a bit, they started to all get up and rustle toward bed.</p><p>Anakin was making noises about early morning training to Ahsoka, and she was sassing back about how Anakin rarely peeled himself out of his bunk before nine anymore. Obi-wan cut in with a remark about how Anakin never got up before ten unless he had to when he was an apprentice, with Cody facetiously pointing out the hour of improvement beside him. Rex was simply laughing too hard at Anakin’s miffed expression; it was a wonder they didn’t wake Zatt.</p><p>He never thought he’d have anything like this, when he was growing up. It was still amazing to him, how the world had turned out so much better than he thought it would.</p><p>The thought triggered something he had been thinking of for a long time.</p><p>“I love you all,” he said abruptly, forcing himself to be casual. He’d never been able to say the words before, echoes of the trainers and the Kaminoans from his childhood stopping the words before he could shape them.</p><p>But now, here, he wasn’t just Alpha-17 anymore, he was Alistar, a father and a brother. And fathers and brothers were encouraged to love.</p><p>Cody, next to him, hugged him briefly. Alistar put his arm around his son, and once again said a small grateful prayer to whatever powers looked after grumpy Clones that he was here, and his son was safe, and they could be people.</p><p>Obi-wan clapped him on the shoulder, eyes warm.</p><p>“We love you too, Alistar,” Anakin called, trying to pry Ahsoka off the couch, to her vocal protests. They all hugged him one at a time before trundling through the door, and probably off to bed.</p><p>He walked with Cody toward their room and sighed. One group down, one to to. And he’d gotten through the easy one first.</p><p>...</p><p>Corsac looked up when 17 walked in. They’d decided to meet in Hydro Bay 15 to talk; this was something they needed to think about how to present.</p><p>“Alistar,” 17 introduced himself.</p><p>“Corsac,” Corsac replied. 17- Alistar- nodded, and sat down opposite him on an overturned bucket.</p><p>“Is Tate coming?” Corsac asked, but Alistar shook his head.</p><p>“No,” he replied, “Shebs thinks it’s not his problem.”</p><p>Corsac shrugged. Tate was probably laughing that very same shebs off at the moment, knowing him.</p><p>“We could bring it up casually,” Alistar offered, after a moment. Corsac gave him a flat look.</p><p>“Slip it into the conversation,” he grunted. Alistar shook his head.</p><p>“We’ll just have to deal with it, I suppose,” he said, also flat with a hint of gloom. Corsac just grunted, and they both got up to walk outside.</p><p>It was the second Taungsday of the month, which meant it was Alpha Sabaac Night.</p><p>This was the first night Alistar had his new name, and Corsac was still considering his last one, so he hadn’t told anyone. They would have to re-introduce themselves to the assembled crowd of all their crabbiest and most sarcastic brothers, and hope to get out unscathed.</p><p>Corsac remembered just how much Tate got teased when he was newly named. If patterns held true, they’d be everyone’s favorite targets tonight. There was no avoiding it, he supposed.</p><p>Sabaac night was generally held in Hyrdo Bay 12, which had enough space for a hundred men to circulate amongst each other and play cards. It also had a comfortable chair for 99, who had been overjoyed to be issued an invitation to join.</p><p>After a couple rounds of Sabaac, and a few more rounds of Stupid Kark My CCs Have Gotten Up To This Month, came the general announcements.</p><p>Some of the more catty troopers referred to General Announcements as gossip-mongering, but they were truly necessary. The Alphas had always been severely outnumbered by little brothers, and the situation had not gotten better on Dantooine. They needed to work together to keep everyone in line!</p><p>Or, well, that was their story and they were sticking to it.</p><p>Corsac waited behind Alpha-58, who gave a terse report on vegetable production, and 94, who mentioned that he was now a ba’buir. That had been happening more often; as CCs started to reconnect with their Alphas, the Alphas were often surprised to realize that their kid had somehow acquired a kid of his own.</p><p>It made life interesting.</p><p>Corsac mentally wished 94 luck. He himself was awaiting the day he held a blue-skinned, black-haired ik’aad (1) with mixed trepidation and anticipation.</p><p>Not, of course, that he’d let that slip to Fox. Or Riyo, for that matter.</p><p>Finally, it was their turn.</p><p>“I’m Corsac,” he grunted.</p><p>“Alistar,” Alistar grated out next to him. Tate, three groups away, grinned widely.</p><p>“Congratulations,” he called out mockingly, “To the newest special snowflakes of the Alpha batch! Names and everything! So unique!”</p><p>“Certainly not anything like the rest of us,” 94, who was standing next to them still, teased.</p><p>“Finally metamorphosed into their adult plumage!” Someone added.</p><p>“Yeah! Now they’re full-bird... say, what are you, really?” Came another mocking call.</p><p>“I’ll show you full-bird,” Alistar called back, raising both his hands in a less than polite gesture.</p><p>“Knock it off, 17,” 36 called, “99’s present.”</p><p>The physically-older man had nearly fallen out of his special chair laughing.</p><p>“Congratulations!” He wheezed, and tried to regain his composure.</p><p>He didn’t appear to be making much headway.</p><p>80 re-entered the Hydro bay carrying a cask on his back. He’d ducked out just a couple seconds ago.</p><p>“Grain alcohol,” he explained, “We had some leftover wheat from a test batch. It needs to be tested... and we need to celebrate!”</p><p>A mug full of... well, it smelled and tasted like hovertransport fuel was shoved into Corsac’s hand. He took a sip-</p><p>And he didn’t remember anything after that.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody tilted his head in bemusement as he surveyed the Hydro Bay. Fox, next to him, groaned.</p><p>“I knew there were downsides to agriculture,” he lamented. Wolffe, next to him, snorted, but whether it was at Fox’s remark or at Bly almost tripping over an Alpha it was hard to tell.</p><p>They had come looking for their Alphas when they couldn’t find them that morning, one by one. And one by one, they’d stumbled on this sight.</p><p>There were Alphas everywhere, piled on top of each other like Cadets, half snoring like logging mills and the other half drooling on their brothers’ shoulders. Cody picked out Alistar easily enough, curled together with an Alpha he couldn’t recognize.</p><p>It was hard to pick one man out of a hundred identical ones when they were all asleep. It was much easier to figure out who was who when they were awake, and you could see their eyes and figure out who they were based on personality.</p><p>“Wild party,” Wolffe remarked, and grinned evilly, “They’re going to have incredible hangovers.”</p><p>Thire grinned equally evilly, and pulled out a miniature loudspeaker. Cody figured out what he was going to do before he raised it to his lips and abruptly decided that anywhere but there was a good place to be at the moment. Most of the rest of the CCs joined him in booking it out of the Hydro Bay.</p><p>Just in time, too, as an echoing “Rise and Shine, mir’shebs!” Almost rattled the bay windows.</p><p>Cody wondered if he would ever see Thire again, and shrugged.</p><p>Probably.</p><p>But he’d keep running, just in case.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mando’a: infant, very young child <br/>My brother, upon reading this, pointed out that Thire’s survival instinct is not incredibly well developed. He’s not wrong.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us, Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A peace meeting on Lasan goes sideways.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m alive! I was just working on a particularly grueling image processor project, and pulled a week’s worth of fourteen-hour days. <br/>It was no fun. <br/>But here’s a new chapter, which was fun!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The palace of Lasan was gorgeous, Stance thought. The pillars soared into the air, gracefully supporting a domed ceiling composed of marble and transparisteel panels, half ornate carved structure, half elaborate stained-glass greenhouse.</p><p>The room was dominated by a round stone table, intricately carved, divided starkly by the shadow of the granite ceiling where it met the glass. Everywhere glittered and gleamed with gold and white and green. They called this room the Grand Diplomatic Chamber, and they certainly weren’t lying!</p><p>Next to him, Caleb was similarly stunned at the beautiful architecture, so much so that he would have walked into a pillar if a Lasat guard hadn’t caught him.</p><p>“Whoah there!” The Guard grunted. Caleb blushed a scarlet red.</p><p>“Sorry!” He squeaked. The guard laughed, and shoved him playfully back.</p><p>“No harm done, Jedi,” he teased, “Maybe watch in front of you instead of above you.”</p><p>Caleb nodded, somewhat shamefaced, and they hurried to catch up with the rest of the group.</p><p>Honestly. You would never know the kid was going to be a Knight in six months.</p><p>They were on Lasan to open negotiations with the local government to help eradicate the slave trade. While not as popular on the slave market as Twi’leks, Lasats were still prized for their strength, dexterity, and speed.</p><p>Stance, Caleb, and their squad had been attached to Master Kenobi as assistant negotiators for this particular anti-slavery summit, as part of a journeyman mission. Occasionally Senior Padawans were given missions with Knights or Masters other than their own, in order to help them adapt to different partners, and also add different methods of problem solving to their repertoire.</p><p>Stance hoped to learn something from Cody, as well. The older Clone had been keeping his Jedi in line for years now; how did he do it?</p><p>“Kanan!” Stance heard a feminine voice say. He hid a snigger as Caleb swung around with anticipation in his face. The anticipation immediately turned into a slightly besotted look when he saw the speaker: Hera Syndulla.</p><p>The Twi’leks and Mandalorians would also be attending this peace summit in addition to the Jedi. The Twi’leks, because they also had an interest in freeing their kinsmen from bondage, and the Mandalorians had also started to raid slave freighters with greater frequency once the war ended.</p><p>Stance supposed that they needed to find their fights somewhere.</p><p>“Hera,” Caleb replied, in a remarkably even voice for how red his face was looking, “How have you been?”</p><p>“No different from our last call yesterday,” Hera laughed, and turned to her companion.</p><p>“Numa, this is Caleb, Stance, and Squad Delta-13,” Hera introduced them to her companion, a slightly younger Twi’lek girl. The girl, Numa, smiled at them hopefully, but her eyes were drawn to the group of 212th troopers walking slightly ahead of them.</p><p>Her eyes widened.</p><p>“Nerra?” she called, raising her voice just enough to be heard across the distance. Two troopers heads snapped up; it was Waxer, with Boil right behind him.</p><p>“Numa?” Waxer called back, stepping forward hesitantly. Numa grinned widely and started running toward them; naturally, they ran toward her as well. They met in the middle in a group hug, talking quietly to each other. Stance moved on quietly to given them some privacy.</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan sighed as he surveyed the chamber. Caleb would be the one actually negotiating for this meeting, to help him gain practice, but Obi-wan was there as a backup in case the younger Jedi had trouble. He seemed to be doing well so far, happily catching up with the young lady from the Rylothian delegation.</p><p>Ah, young love.</p><p>Waxer and Boil were also speaking to a young Twi’lek. She looked familiar; it took him a moment to recognize her, but then he smiled. Numa. He was glad she was able to accompany the delegation; Waxer and Boil kept in regular contact with her, but hadn’t seen her in person since the War.</p><p>There was another young voice calling across to them, and it took him a moment to place Sabine Wren, with her mother Ursa Wren watching indulgently yet warily as the preteen girl zigzagged across the conference chamber to greet young Caleb and Stance. Lady Wren never had quite forgiven Caleb for introducing her daughter to the joys of paint.</p><p>Miss Syndulla, to her credit, took the young girl crashing into her boyfriend, his brother, and her with good grace, recovering quickly and smiling down at Sabine. Sabine, by the looks of it, started talking a mile a minute. As Obi-wan drifted closer, he could hear plenty of questions about Caleb’s impending Knighthood. Lady Wren, who had also discreetly followed her daughter across the negotiation chamber, gave a somewhat resigned smile and stopped next to him.</p><p>“She’s going to follow them as soon as she earns her armor,” she sighed, “I had hoped she would grow out of it.”</p><p>“Some things children grow out of, some things they don’t,” Obi-wan agreed, and smiled ruefully, “I wanted to be a Jedi Knight as soon as I knew what one was, and that conviction was never quite eradicated.”</p><p>“You were raised to be one,” Lady Wren shrugged, “But I suppose I can understand why Sabine would want the life the Jedi could offer her; helping people is something she has always felt strongly about.”</p><p>“All I can tell you, Lady Wren, is that we will regard her as one of our own, and take care of her as such. And we will welcome any visits from you, of course,” Obi-wan offered.</p><p>Lady Wren sighed, as she watched her daughter be hoisted up on Stance’s shoulders.</p><p>“What will her life be like?” She asked, abruptly. Obi-wan blinked.</p><p>“Difficult,” He said, “And rewarding. To this day, I personally believe there are very few ways to better help the Galaxy as a whole than to be a Jedi.”</p><p>“Would she be a Jedi?” Lady Wren asked. Obi-wan nodded.</p><p>“Force-sensitivity is no longer considered a requirement for being a Jedi,” he said quietly, “And we recruit from any age, now. Each path looks different, but I believe I can give you an outline of what hers might be.”</p><p>Lady Wren nodded.</p><p>“She’s expressed interest in joining our Defense Corps, non-Force-sensitive individuals who are trained in the military arts and perform a variety of missions, often accompanying members of the Knight Corps, who are Force Sensitive,” he began.</p><p>Hera Syndulla started to tickle Sabine on her ribs. Obi-wan suppressed a smile.</p><p>“She will be assigned to Caleb and Stance’s legion, probably, and learn leadership and tactics from them. She will accompany them on their missions, from aid missions to negotiations, and, when she is old enough, to wartime situations. When she reaches independence, she will be either assigned to their legion as an officer, or possibly become an officer for another legion. She seems set on becoming Caleb’s Padawan’s Commander.”</p><p>Lady Wren out her face in her hand.</p><p>“At least she’s not attacking other Commanders anymore,” she muttered. Obi-wan smiled reminiscently.</p><p>“Ah, Ponds and Mace can use a little excitement now and again. It keeps them on their toes,” he offered. Lady Wren nodded, but at that moment the fanfare for the King of Lasan played and each delegation rushed to take their positions.</p><p>...</p><p>Hera was still a little bemused, after meeting Sabine. The little girl was something of a force of nature, but was sweet and enthusiastic. Caleb explained to her that she was probably going to learn from him and Stance someday.</p><p>Well. She had known he would have Padawans, she just didn’t think that he would have one lined up so soon. He wasn’t even a Knight yet! But, on the other hand, watching Sabine with Stance and Caleb was great fun. She should take Sabine to meet Chopper, that would probably be endlessly entertaining.</p><p>The somewhat lengthy fanfare came to a conclusion, and the King of Lasan strolled into the chamber regally, clothed in simple yet splendid clothes and surrounded by ceremonial guards. His queen walked beside him, at her ceremonial place at his right hand, with his eldest daughter on the left. He sat at the table first, and the rest of the ambassadors and aides followed, while other members of the diplomatic parties bowed deeply and left the chamber.</p><p>They were left with Hera, her father, Caleb, Stance, Master Kenobi and his Commander, Lady Wren, and two Mandalorians Hera didn’t know. Sabine waved excitedly as she was taken outside, and Hera couldn’t help but wave back with Caleb. This wasn’t a hostile conference, after all.</p><p>The King of Lasan had requested this meeting to formalize an aid agreement for freed former slaves. Between the efforts of the Jedi, the Rylothian Freedom Fighters, the Mandalorians, and occasionally other groups, there were often hundreds of newly freed beings in need of a place to go, medicine, and education. Many of them needed identification papers as well, having never been registered when they were born into slavery. It was a massive job.</p><p>Some planets had already agreed to help; Alderaan and Naboo had been some of the first, followed by Correlia, Mandalore, and Pantora. Senator Orn Free Taa was preventing Ryloth from agreeing at the moment, but there was an unofficial understanding between the loose coalition that they would take who they could.</p><p>Now, Lasan wanted to helped their enslaved kinsmen as well. Lasats were popular on the stage market, not quite so much as Twi’leks, but still prized for laboring jobs.</p><p>The negotiations were fairly standard, as the king had already outlined most of his terms in several past diplomatic meetings, and they had been agreeable to everyone involved. This was probably why both Hera and Caleb had been sent to this meeting to gain practice. However, just as the treaty was being brought out to be signed, something went wrong.</p><p>The first thing Hera noticed was a thundering boom in the distance. Then, another one, closer. The support pillars on the south side of the chamber cracked. Caleb and Master Kenobi immediately split up, Caleb and Stance herding her and her father toward the Mandalorians, Kenobi and Ta’raysh-Etad moving to a protective spot beside the King.</p><p>They had just reached the Mandalorians when the final blast sounded- and the entire chamber came down on top of them.</p><p>...</p><p>Sabine wasn’t sure what was wrong, when she heard the explosions. She was familiar with the sound, growing up Mandalorian, but Buir had said that live fire exercises were strictly prohibited while they were on Lasan.</p><p>The grown ups looked worried all of a sudden, so she and Tristan were left in a corner with a Twi’lek girl and a weird droid.</p><p>“What’s going on?” She tried to ask, as the Twi’lek watched the other adults warily. Caleb and Stance’s brothers were rushing around, and there was shouting and some of the others looked afraid.</p><p>“There was an explosion in the treaty hall,” the Twi’lek said, “We’re trying to get everyone out of the rubble.”</p><p>“Is Buir okay?” Tristan asked nervously. The Twi’lek looked nervous, and shrugged.</p><p>“My name is Numa,” she said, “Why don’t we try to just let the adults work, and stay out of the way.”</p><p>Whomp-WHOMP! Objected the droid.</p><p>“No, we have to wait! How can we help, we’re kids!” Numa tried to reason with the droid, but it was not having any of her platitudes, and started rolling through the palace. Numa followed it, with a nervous and guilty look at the adults trying to get through the door of the ceremonial chamber. Sabine and Tristan looked at each other, and then followed her.</p><p>The droid stopped at a terminal, interfaced with it for a while, and then moved off again, whomping purposefully. Numa, Sabine, and Tristan followed. They moved through the maze of narrower and narrower hallways until they came to a dead end. Sabine had no clue where they were.</p><p>The droid nattered at Numa, but she just looked at it.</p><p>“What do you mean, there’s a door?” She asked. The droid rocked from side to side, and tried to repeat itself.</p><p>Sabine looked at the wall closer. It looked like an ordinary wall. She poked it, and a section of the wall swung out.</p><p>The door!</p><p>Numa gently shoved Sabine and Tristan away from the door, and peeked through with trepidation.</p><p>“Tristan,” She said evenly, “Go get the others. Chopper, go with him. Sabine, stay at the doorway and keep it open. We don’t know if it opens from the other side.”</p><p>Tristan nodded, and took off at a run. Numa motioned Sabine over, and made sure she had a grip on the door before ducking suddenly into the room. Sabine peered through.</p><p>She didn’t know what she was going to see, but she needed to know what what had happened to Buir.</p><p>She couldn’t see Buir at first, and her chest tightened and tightened as she saw all the rubble in the room. But then she saw her Buir digging through the big pieces, and relaxed. Caleb and Stance and Hera were helping, and the Twi’lek man was sitting on the floor. Buir’s aides also trying to shift the rubble.</p><p>Buir was hurt; she was walking funny. Sabine wanted nothing more to run to her Buir and give her a hug, because her Buir was alive! And she was hurt! And hugs made hurting better! But she couldn’t.</p><p>She needed to stay at her position. She’d been given orders. A good Mandalorian followed their orders if the orders were to help their family, and she was holding the door open so the doctors and other growups could get to Buir.</p><p>She bit her lip. She knew why she had to hold the door, but it was hard.</p><p>...</p><p>Waxer’s head snapped up when Tristan ran screaming into the room about a door. It took a minute to decipher what he was saying, and then the entire rescue team was following the small boy and the droid through the warren of passages to an unremarkable little room with Sabine holding a door open. Waxer motioned for one of the Shinies to hold it for her and scooped her up.</p><p>“I want to see Buir,” Sabine insisted, pointing through the door. Waxer looked through, careful to stay out of the way of the rescue teams. He wasn’t sure what he would find, and there were some things kids shouldn’t see. He was relieved to see Caleb and Stance were alright, as well as the Mandalorians. Cham Syndulla was being seen to by a medic, but he appeared to be responsive.</p><p>Waxer kept a hold of Sabine, and walked over to Caleb and Lady Wren, who were talking with Boil.</p><p>“What happened?” Boil asked, as he was picking his way through the debris.</p><p>“The explosions targeted the structural columns,” Caleb reported, “The entire ceiling came down. Our group was mostly okay, we were under the glass side of the ceiling, though we got knocked by some debris. That’s what happened to Syndulla. But Kenobi and Ta’Raysh-Etad went to protect the royal family, and they were under the marble side. We were trying to dig them out, but were having no luck.”</p><p>“They’re still alive?” Waxer asked, as he let Sabine down to go to her Buir.</p><p>“I can feel Kenobi,” Caleb nodded, and something in Waxer thrummed in relief, “But I can’t be specific. Something about the stone here amplifies the Force. It’s like trying to find a cricket in an echo chamber. I tried to move some rocks, and they nearly hit us. I have no control.”</p><p>“Get yourself checked for a head wound, kid,” Waxer ordered, “Go sit down. You did good, it’s our turn now.”</p><p>“But-“ Caleb tried to object, but Boil shook his head at him. Caleb nodded, and leaned on Stance on the way over to Scalpel the medic.</p><p>“You should probably get checked out too, Lady Wren,” Waxer suggested, trying to be respectful.</p><p>“It’s nothing major,” Lady Wren tried to wave them off, “Just some bruises. My armor protected me.”</p><p>“We just want to be sure, Lady Wren,” Boil said gruffly, nodding to Sabine significantly. Lady Wren looked down into her daughter’s worried eyes and sighed.</p><p>“Alright,” She conceded, and began walking over to the medics, holding her daughter’s hand.</p><p>Waxer turned to the pile of rubble, trying to figure out where to start. He heard Boil sigh next to him.</p><p>“If I had a credit for every time he ends up buried in rubble...” his brother muttered, and started to shift boulders away from the pile.</p><p>“Fifteen credits is barely enough to buy dinner. Shut up and start sifting,” Waxer retorted, setting to work beside him.</p><p>...</p><p>Boil was a little worried. He stood by his earlier point, this was far from the first time the General had buried himself by either accident or design, but they’d made it through half the pile and there was no sign of Kenobi. No trace of Cody, either. It had already been two hours, which was forever on a battlefield.</p><p>He reminded himself that this wasn’t a battlefield.</p><p>He and Waxer were shifting rubble by hand in the places the excavator couldn’t reach, when suddenly Lt. Rutabaga shouted from the other side of the room.</p><p>“Found them!”</p><p>It felt like the entire room descended on that point. Waxer and Boil pushed most of their brothers away to allow the Palace Guard access, but made sure to keep nearby. In the absence of Kenobi and Cody, they were the ranking officers.</p><p>The Queen was pulled out first, conscious, and holding her daughter’s hand as they were helped out of the hole that had been dug. The King was gently passed up after, unconscious. The Lasat healers descended in a frenzy, but it seemed he would be alright. Finally, Cody came up, dragging Kenobi with him. Medic Scalpel and Medic Staph were on them before they were properly out. Waxer took Kenobi, so Boil put Cody’s arm around his shoulders, and they led their older brothers to the cleared area where the medics had set up triage.</p><p>“I’m fine,” Obi-wan was trying to murmur, as if any of them would believe him. He’d say he was fine even after all of his limbs fell off. Cody grunted next to him.</p><p>“Caleb,” Obi-wan was trying to call, much to everyone else’s chagrin, “What is the mission status?”</p><p>Boil used to eyes to communicate to the young Jedi that if he engaged Obi-wan in the investigation, he would be attending his Knighting with his jaw wired shut. Caleb took the hint.</p><p>“Handled,” he told Kenobi smoothly, or as smoothly as an eighteen-year-old can get with a medic hovering over him. Kenobi didn’t look like he believed him, but he acquiesced to transport to the nearest hospital with Cody, who had only agreed to be taken for medical care because he thought Obi-wan needed it.</p><p>They’d learned to use their superior officers’ concern for each other’s wellbeing against them years ago.</p><p>That left the commanding officers on site as them, and Caleb. Caleb stood, after being checked by the medic, and held an arm out to Hera.</p><p>“You two managed to scrape by with contusions and abrasions,” the medic told them, “But if anything starts hurting or acting weird, at all, ever, in the next two days, come and find me. If you don’t, I will know, and I will come find you. You will not like it when I come find you.”</p><p>The medics had become much more creative with their threats since the War. It must be the Jedi Healer’s influence.</p><p>Caleb and Hera nodded obediently, and then turned to Boil.</p><p>“Did you find the explosive remnants?” He asked, intently. Boil shook his head.</p><p>“Too early for that kind of investigation, kid,” he said, “We were focused on getting everyone out. Now we’ve finished recovery, we can start panning for explosives.”</p><p>“Can I help?” Caleb asked, predictably. It was a wonder the Jedi had ever made it without clones telling them to stop and rest.</p><p>“The local authorities will be the ones to do that, kid,” Waxer said, gently, “They’re trained in his kind of thing.”</p><p>Caleb nodded, slowly.</p><p>“How long will it take?” He asked, clearly intending to wait in the debris-ridden room until an answer was found, even though he was just as clearly dead on his feet.</p><p>Self-sacrificing Jedi. Boil started looking around for Stance as Waxer answered the question.</p><p>“At least twelve hours, probably,” his brother said truthfully, “But don’t put big money on finding anything within the tenday.”</p><p>There was a lot of rubble. In addition, Boil could already see bits of wire and machinery in the rubble, probably from the palace wiring. It would be merry kark to sort all the bits to find the explosive traces, and Boil wished whoever was tasked with that job good luck.</p><p>Caleb was starting to droop, and Boil renewed his search for Stance. It was a Commander’s job to know the most effective ways to coax their Jedi to rest, after all.</p><p>He was surprised when Hera, who had been watching their conversation quietly, spoke up.</p><p>“Get some rest, Kanan,” she teased, emphasizing the nickname, “We can figure out an investigation in the morning.”</p><p>He was even more surprised when Caleb actually acquiesced, and took her arm to lead her out of the room. No cajoling, no bribing, no sitting on top of him until he wasn’t able to stay awake any longer- she just suggested it, and he agreed. It was nearly a miracle.</p><p>They needed to get one of those for Kenobi.</p><p>...</p><p>Caleb was, indeed, much refreshed after sleeping for... twelve hours. Huh. Hera was right, he did need to sleep.</p><p>He made his way out of the suite, almost running into Stance on the way. They made their way back to the audience chamber, and ran into Waxer and Boil at the entrance.</p><p>“Any news?” Caleb greeted them. Boil shook his head, looking tired.</p><p>“They’ve cleared out the room,” Waxer clarified, “And analysis of the rubble is ongoing. No sign of timer so far, but there’s residue of Flexsplode on the columns. Skywalker and the 501st are inbound, and so is your legion. They’ll be here in two days.”</p><p>Caleb nodded thoughtfully. Flexsplode was a type of plast-explosive, good for shaping charges and precisely calculating force and direction.</p><p>“Those charges weren’t shaped,” he said, thinking back to yesterday carefully, “And they didn’t go off at the same time.”</p><p>“Right,” one of the Lasat guardsmen nearby agreed, walking over to join their conversation. It was the one he had run into yesterday. Caleb suppressed his embarrassment as the Guard continued.</p><p>“From the residue traces, there was much more explosive than is needed for an explosion of that size, but it was shaped poorly, so a lot of the blast was directed away from load-bearing columns into facade walls or open space.”</p><p>“Garazeb Orelios,” The Guard introduced himself to their blank looks, “Of the Royal Guard, but call me Zeb.”</p><p>“Stance and Caleb Dume of the Dantooine Enclave,” Stance introduced them in turn.</p><p>“So we’re dealing with an amateur then,” Caleb suggested.</p><p>“Or maybe someone who just didn’t care about collateral damage,” the guardsman shrugged, “And couldn’t be bothered to be precise.”</p><p>Caleb nodded thoughtfully.</p><p>“Maybe the timers went off wrong,” he suggested in turn, “If they went off simultaneously, we would have had much less warning.”</p><p>It was left unsaid that the warning they had was the only reason that everybody made it out of the chamber mostly intact.</p><p>“Perhaps. We haven’t found any evidence of timers, only some surveillance equipment,” Zeb replied, leading them into the rubble-filled chamber and toward a table set up in a corner. On the table were pieces of machinery, bits of lens and mirror, with some microchips.</p><p>“Where were these found?” Stance asked abruptly, picking up a piece of mirror. He started assembling it and some of the lens chips on the table into a roughly pipe like shape.</p><p>“Mostly with pieces of rubble from the ceiling, in the back of the room, behind the columns,” Zeb said, confused. Stance finished assembling the contraption, looked at it, and sighed. To Caleb, it looked a bit like a pipe with a bunch of mirrors in it, but I obviously had a purpose.</p><p>“You’re not going to find a timer,” he said.</p><p>“You seem awfully sure,” Zeb raised his eyebrow. Stance indicated the lens contraption that was sitting in front of them.</p><p>“Solar amplifier,” he said gloomily, “Generally used on Hutt worlds to reflect sunlight into buildings, save on lighting costs. This one’s been reverse-engineered to concentrate light instead of diffuse it, creating a laser.”</p><p>Zeb blinked, and started examining the contraption closer as Stance continued speaking.</p><p>“My guess is, holes were drilled through the ceiling, and these were inserted. Then they were camouflaged, probably, and just left there. I’m guessing that a lot of people don’t check the ceiling behind the columns much, it’s dark up there. Same for the roof.”</p><p>Zeb nodded, slowly. Stance continued.</p><p>“All you need to do to use this as a timer is know where the laser will be at a certain time. You take the sun’s position, and calculate it’s affect in the lasers. The lasers were hidden by the columns; they probably went straight up and down. Put the Flexsplode on the floor in the path of the beam, the heat from the laser ignites it, and boom. Our saboteur was actually a few seconds off in his calculations, thus the three distinct explosions,” Stance finished.</p><p>“You’ve seen this before,” Zeb blinked.</p><p>“I talk to some of the Free People, the ones we take off of slaver ships,” Stance shrugged, “They offered to show us how to build houses the way they do it, and we accepted. Dantooine needs more living quarters.”</p><p>Caleb nodded. He’d never quite understood how the lighting mechanism Stance was talking about worked; it was just similar enough to building a lightsaber, yet just different enough to be incredibly confusing.</p><p>“Right,” Zeb decided, “I’ll be your liaison for your investigation, do you have any ideas where to start looking?”</p><p>...</p><p>Zeb was somewhat impressed. He wasn’t happy that the only Jedi left were the kids, but they actually seemed to be fairly competent. The adults were focused on leasing with the search and recovery teams, and also with the structural engineering team that came in after everyone was removed from the rubble to try and piece the disaster together. But the kids, the kids were interesting.</p><p>“Stance and I are younger than most of the other Clones here, so we had different training,” Dume explained, “He took a lot of my Padawan classes with me, which most of our older brothers didn’t get a chance to do. We know more about Jedi investigations than anyone else conscious and on-planet at the moment.”</p><p>Stance nodded. Zeb hadn’t really thought about what it was like growing up as a Clone, but now he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.</p><p>“Alright, where are we headed now?” He couldn’t resist asking.</p><p>“We’re going to see Caleb’s girlfriend!” Stance teased, grinning widely.</p><p>“Shut up!” Dume snapped back, and looked at Zeb apologetically, “She is my girlfriend, but she also is one of our main experts on Hutt Sabotage at the moment.”</p><p>“Also, they think fighting bad guys together is romantic,” Stance nodded.</p><p>“But it is!” Piped up a little voice. The two kids froze.</p><p>“Sabine, why aren’t you with your Buir?” Stance asked calmly. A little Human- maybe a girl? It was hard to tell with Human kids- looked up at them innocently as she slipped out of the shadows to join them.</p><p>“Buir is busy trying to help her friends,” Sabine said calmly, “And I can help!”</p><p>“Not everything we do is okay for kids to come along with, Sabine,” Dume tried nervously, “You haven’t gotten your armor yet, and sometimes we have to fight the bad guys.”</p><p>“But I can come along to see Miss Hera and Chopper!” Sabine pointed out logically. She was going to be a handful when she got older. Dume sighed, and exchanged a long-suffering look with Stance, and reached out to hold her hand as they walked through the corridors.</p><p>“And fighting bad guys together is romantic, all the old sagas say so!” Sabine continued, “How do you fall in love with someone if you don’t see how well they fight first?”</p><p>Dume shrugged.</p><p>“I wouldn’t know,” he said, “But I’m told it happens.”</p><p>“How, exactly, did you and Miss Syndulla meet?” Zeb couldn’t resist asking.</p><p>“Freeing slaves on a spice freighter,” Dume smiled reminiscently, “She stunned the pirate who was holding me captive, and almost stunned me. I was undercover at the time.”</p><p>Zeb blinked. Well, there were worse ways to meet, he supposed. No weirder than those speed dating places.</p><p>They got to the Ryloth Delegation's rooms without further incident, or more human children popping out of the woodwork. Small blessings.</p><p>The door opened to a young Twi’lek woman, who smiled and let them in immediately.</p><p>“Who is it, Numa?” came a call from further in the apartment, and the young Twi’lek who had been in the hall yesterday poked her head around a doorway.</p><p>“Kanan! Stance!” she smiled, “And Sabine too! I feel honored.”</p><p>Stance looked somewhat amused by her playful swooning, while Sabine outright giggled. Dune just smiled in a slightly besotted way and looked at her for a moment.</p><p>That was almost sickeningly sweet, it was.</p><p>“We actually need your Hutt-fighting expertise, Hera,” Dune said.</p><p>“You know the most romantic things to say to a girl, Kanan,” Syndulla replied, “What can I help you with?”</p><p>…</p><p>Stance wasn’t too enthusiastic about this entire fiasco. Explosives, the senior staff being down for the count, and his overenthusiastic little brother dragging them into a bomb investigation.</p><p>Par for the course, he supposed, he probably should have figured this out all those years ago on the battlefield when he had to grab Caleb by the hood of his robe to keep him out of trouble. He wouldn’t trade it for the world, though.</p><p>He explained the device to Hera, who nodded in understanding.</p><p>“I’m familiar with the type,” she said, “I’d agree that this is definitely Hutt influenced.”</p><p>“Why would the Hutts want to bomb the Palace of Lasan?” Asked Zeb, the Guard.</p><p>“Yes, why would the Hutts want to stop a prominent anti-slavery summit from a species they like to capture and sell?” Hera asked rhetorically. Zeb nodded, grudgingly.</p><p>“What can we do?” Caleb asked, trying to be leaderly and authoritative. It mostly worked. It would work better once his voice stopped cracking occasionally. To their credit, no one giggled at him.</p><p>Good, Stance would hate to have to beat someone up for laughing at his little brother.</p><p>“The spaceports are all closed: the planetary defense force is enforcing a blockade, no one can leave the planet,” Zeb offered.</p><p>“That makes life easier,” Caleb muttered.</p><p>Their musings were interrupted when Hera’s demon droid rolled up and started trying to get their attention.</p><p>“What is it?” Hera Asked, and the droid obliged by putting up holos of four figures; ten droids and thirty Lasats. </p><p>“Chopper says that these are all the beings that accessed the chamber in the timeframe the explosives were planted,” Hera translated.</p><p>“How does he know that?” Stance couldn’t help but ask, with the feeling he would regret it.</p><p>“The chamber was surveyed for structural faults last week,” Hera relayed, “As it is before all meetings. They probably wouldn’t have missed the Flexsplode behind the columns, it’s their job to check there.”</p><p>“And how, precisely, does your droid know so much about our palace security procedures and staff?” Zeb looked tired.</p><p>“You probably don’t want to know,” Hera muttered.</p><p>“Alright, who are all of these people?” Stance decided to get back on track with the investigations.</p><p>“The droids are cleaning droids,” Zeb pointed, “We have a hundred of them. We could probably track those models down, but it will take a while.”</p><p>“I don’t think this was the work of a droid,” Caleb disagreed, “Someone did their math wrong, the explosions were out of sync. Droids tend to be better at calculations like that.”</p><p>Stance couldn’t help but nod. Zeb moved on to the Lasats in the holos.</p><p>“These are cleaning staff,” he grouped one section of Lasats with his hand, “We don’t trust droids to clean some of the more ancient pieces of the Palace, like the Grand Table. These are security, members of the Guard, and some civilian contractors. These are Palace administrators and event planners.”</p><p>“Alright, so the explosives were planted and the solar lasers were drilled sometime that week, but the lasers were covered so the bomb didn’t go off early,” Hera said, looking at the array of holos intently, “Which meant that someone needed to uncover the lasers sometime in the rotational period leading up to the explosion.”</p><p>“Exact time of the explosion was 1325,” Zeb supplied, “So sometime after 1325 the previous day.”</p><p>“Someone would have needed to access the roof in that timeframe,” Stance extrapolated, “The lasers were covered from the outside; if they were covered from the inside, they would have burnt through the covers.”</p><p>“Chopper,” Hera ordered, but the droid had already narrowed its selection.</p><p>Only one Lasat was left.</p><p>“That’s one of our contractors,” Zeb frowned, “Trudib Perleto. I can pull up his duty rotation, give me a moment.”</p><p>He fiddled with his comm, and his eyes went wide.</p><p>“He’s guarding the king at the hospital!”</p><p>...</p><p>Hera was amazed at how fast Caleb and Stance could run when they put their mind to it. They outpaced her and Sabine quickly, and were already gone by the time she and Chopper reached the hangar.</p><p>She appropriated a speeder anyway. She had a bone to pick with the man who had tried to kill her and her father. She barely noticed Sabine hopping in the back.</p><p>She was a better pilot than Caleb, so she caught up with their speeder just as they arrived at the hospital.</p><p>“Jedi!” Caleb barked at the receptionist, tapping his lightsaber, “Where is the king being kept?”</p><p>The receptionist, figuring out the urgency of the situation, ran with them to the Royal Suite. Both the guards in front of the door were unconscious.</p><p>Hera couldn’t stop to worry about them, but luckily the receptionist fell back and started paging for more security and nurses.</p><p>They burst into the room, blasters and sabers out, and Perleto jumped and spun to face them with malice in his eyes. The King was unconscious in his bed, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.</p><p>“You Jedi ruin everything!” He growled, syringe in his hand.</p><p>“We aren’t the ones trying to murder a monarch,” Stance growled back, “Put the needle down, and out your hands in the air.”</p><p>Perleto put the needle down with a sigh, but then moved quick as lightning to get behind the king and take out a vibro-knife.</p><p>“Speaking of trying to murder a monarch,” he growled, “Let me go, or His Majesty will suffer an unfortunate fate. Long live the king, right?”</p><p>Caleb extinguished his saber immediately, Stance bolstering his weapon only a second later. Hera decided to follow their lead; they were the trained negotiators.</p><p>“Put down the bo-rifle, Orelios,” Perleto growled at Zeb, who was still training his weapon at the traitor, “You don’t want to be the Royal Guard who killed the King, do you?”</p><p>Zeb growled, but lowered the rifle.</p><p>“Drop it on the floor and slide it over here,” Perleto taunted, Zeb reluctantly complied.</p><p>“Why did you do it?” Hera couldn’t help but ask, mostly trying to keep his attention away from the king.</p><p>“Let’s see- a lifetime of service, standing bored at doorways and meetings, not even allowed the prestige of being a Royal Guard, or enough money to be a royal if I felt like it? I know which one I wanted,” Perleto snarled, and picked up the bo-rifle as it came to a stop by his feet.</p><p>“Always wanted one of these,” he taunted Zeb, “I may just take it with me.”</p><p>That’s when Sabine struck. Hera vaguely registered small spherical objects flying through the air, and then all she could see was color. Pink. Green. Blue. It was in her eyes, and stung a bit. She could hear Perleto yell, and then she heard Caleb and Stance attack. When she had wiped her eyes out, she was treated to the sight of a technicolor hospital room and a downed Lasat with his fur matted in all colors of the rainbow.</p><p>“What?” Zeb muttered, next to her. She could appreciate the sentiment. However, the Guard moved past his surprise (and the paint) and quickly took Perleto into custody.</p><p>Her attention was diverted by some noises coming from the king.</p><p>“Your Majesty?” Zeb gasped, so she leaned out to the hall.</p><p>“The King is waking up!”</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan Kenobi supposed he should probably get used to this kind of thing by now. It was a curse, he decided, a curse on his line. Possibly on him personally, but then again, Anakin seemed to have it too.</p><p>Speak of the Corellian Devil- Anakin was hovering like a particularly annoying jump-jet by his side again. Cody seemed to be putting up with the same with Alpha. Zatt had merely pasted himself to Obi-wan’s side, and refused to be budged.</p><p>“I’m fine,” he tried to convince his former Padawan, and everyone else by extension, “The doctors cleared me for duty!”</p><p>“The doctors cleared you for light duty,” Anakin corrected, staring at him significantly.</p><p>“Well, it doesn’t get much lighter than an award ceremony, does it?” Obi-wan retorted. Anakin looked flatly at him, and made to object, but they had made it to the throne room.</p><p>The Mandalorians were already there, as well as the Twi’leks, Cham Syndulla sitting down in a chair that been thoughtfully provided for him. Depa Billaba And Grey Seeci were there as well, with their legion.</p><p>A hush fell over the hall as the King walked slowly in, supported by his wife and daughter. He stood at the front of the hall and gently lowered himself into his throne.</p><p>“Before we sign the treaty today, wish to confer an honor upon the brave individuals who saved my life,” he said, not quite strongly, but audibly, “Caleb Dume, Stance of Dantooine, Hera Syndulla, Chopper of Ryloth, and Sabine Wren, please come forward.”</p><p>They each stepped forward when called, and the king turned to his queen, who picked up a box of medals.</p><p>“I wish to awake you for your bravery. I confer upon you the Medal of Service and Valor, the highest honor I can confer upon a noncitizen of Lasan.”</p><p>Depa watched proudly as her Padawan received his medal. Grey dabbed at his eyes discreetly.</p><p>“Garazeb Orelios,” The king called, and he stepped forward, “For your service to the crown, I confer upon you a Knighthood of the Order of the Bo-Rifle. In addition, I appoint you to the post of Liason to the Jedi, so you may help us free our enslaved brothers.”</p><p>Garazeb knelt, and the king gently tapped his shoulders with a Bo-Rifle.</p><p>“Rise, Sir Orelios,” The king proclaimed grandly, and stepped forward.</p><p>“And now, we must sign the treaty!”</p><p>After the signing, Obi-wan noticed Lady Wren heading toward him and Cody. He smiled in welcome; and she stopped in front of him and turned toward her daughter, who was standing with Caleb, Hera, Chopper, Garazeb, and Stance.</p><p>“This is what being a Jedi is,” she stated more than asked. Obi-wan nodded.</p><p>“This is what we all strive toward,” he told her, “Not the awards, mind, but to help.”</p><p>Lady Wren nodded.</p><p>“It will be a good life, for my daughter,” she decided, “Take care of her.”</p><p>“We will,” Obi-wan promised, and he meant it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I tried to do more a thriller-ish vibe with this one. Thoughts?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36: The Chaotic Lives of Echo and Fives</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>One of the advantages that Clones have over droids is that they’re more creative. <br/>However, they don’t always use this trait of theirs against the droids.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ve been meaning to write something like this forever. I was first inspired by a tag on a fic I was scrolling past; it’s where I got the title. However, I can’t find the fic. If you know which one it is, please drop me a line so I can give credit! <br/>This was kickstarted, though, by this Tumblr post:<br/>https://sithzuko.tumblr.com/post/640989705036595200/fives-hello-captain-rex-and-general</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a gorgeous day aboard the Resolute, Rex thought. He was walking with Anakin to lunch, after finishing their paperwork for the day. Their last campaign had minimal losses, and their next battlefield was still a tenday jumping in and out of hyperspace to zigzag across the Outer Rim away.</p><p>The rounded the corner of the corridor, and Rex couldn’t help but stop. He felt Anakin come to a halt next to him, staring.</p><p>“Hello Captain Rex And General Skywalker!” Fives called.</p><p>Rex just blinked at him. Next to him, he vaguely registered Anakin doing the same.</p><p>“I understand that you may be wondering why i am currently taped to the ceiling,” Fives nodded.</p><p>And taped to the ceiling he was. Rex wasn’t aware there was that much tape existed aboard the Resolute. He suspected that the tape had been smuggled on board specifically for this or other nefarious purposes.</p><p>“Well, it’s like this,” Echo twitched his fingers a bit, probably trying to sweep his arm broadly. The only part of him that wasn’t covered in tape was his head.</p><p>Rex blinked up at him again, and made a decision. It was much too nice of a day to get involved in... whatever this was. He turned on his heel and strode off, to Fives’s distressed shouts.</p><p>Karking idiots.</p><p>...</p><p>Jesse waited impatiently for Echo to show up for patrol. He wasn’t late, but usually he arrived five minutes early to patrols. For him not to have already arrived was unusual.</p><p>Jesse soon discovered why Echo was late when Echo entered the hangar.</p><p>Well, he assumed it was Echo. The hot pink sticky notes that covered every inch of his armor made telling that more difficult.</p><p>“What happened?” He couldn’t resist asking, in spite of himself.</p><p>“Fives happened,” Echo returned grumpily, “He did this, and he tampered with my alarm so I didn’t get up in time to clean it off.”</p><p>Jesse nodded, slowly.</p><p>“Do I want to know why?” He asked, slower, with a healthy amount of trepidation.</p><p>“You tape a guy to the ceiling one time...” Echo muttered.</p><p>“Oh, that was you,” Jesse replied in surprise, and immediately regretted it.</p><p>“You. Heard. Nothing,” Echo hissed back.</p><p>It was surprising how menacing a vod could look covered in sticky notes. Jesse decided it wasn’t worth the fight.</p><p>...</p><p>Tip wasn’t sure what was going on. The whole ship knew, by now, that Fives and Echo were at it again, but that only meant more uncertainty and chaos.</p><p>He stepped into the bunk room and blinked at the sight before him. Fives was curled into his berth, muttering ominously.</p><p>That wasn’t unusual. It just meant that he and Echo were on the outs again.</p><p>What was unusual was the orientation of the berth.</p><p>Fives had gotten one of the coveted wall-berths, which were basically rectangular niches in the bulkhead of the Resolute with sliding doors. They were less difficult to get to than the drawer-berths higher up, and often came with a small shelf cut further into the niche to store belongings, which was the main reason they were so prized.</p><p>This one looked fairly normal, except that everything in it- sleeping pad, blanket, pillow, and the knickknacks that Fives kept on his shelf- were upside down.</p><p>The only thing that wasn’t upside down was Fives himself, laying on the now-bare space where his bed used to be and staring up at his pillow grumpily.</p><p>Tup was young- there were some days that he was sure he’d always be the baby of Torrent Company- but he wasn’t stupid. He turned right around and stepped back out. He had a friend in Berth Room 3 that would probably let him borrow a bunk for a nap.</p><p>...</p><p>Kix had been calling Echo, trying to get him on the line to schedule a medical check, for the last half hour and was sick of it. He stormed around the ship angrily, and finally came across Echo in one of the unofficial rec rooms.</p><p>They had started out life as storage rooms, but General Skywalker had gotten some board games for the men to play and kept them there. Then someone else had gotten a couple of blankets and pillow, and another a small library of holonovel and holovision chips. Some of the chips did fuzz out a little, but they make for more amusement than just watching a blank wall.</p><p>Echo was sitting in a corner, contemplating a round object in his hands. Kix marched over, about to give Echo a piece of his mind, until Echo looked up and saw him.</p><p>“Kix! Were you the one trying to call me?” He asked.</p><p>Kix nodded, cautious.</p><p>“Why didn’t you pick up?” He asked, sharply.</p><p>Echo muttered something about killing his brother and held up the round object. It looked like one of those plasti-band balls that some of the natborn administrators kept in their desks.</p><p>“Call me,” He said. Kix did, more out of morbid curiosity than anything else.</p><p>The plasti-band ball started ringing. Kix blinked. It kept ringing for the full call-cycle, and then played the beep that signified a missed call.</p><p>Echo just looked tired.</p><p>“It used to be twice the size,” he sighed, pointing to a not-insignificant pile of plastic bands by his feet.</p><p>“Fives?” Kix couldn’t help but ask. Echo nodded, picking another band off the ball, but got an evil smile on his face.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” he muttered, “ I’ll have my revenge.”</p><p>Kix backed out of the red room slowly, and made his way down the hall. He’d almost gotten to the next compartment when the beard the sound of air horns from the forward hangar, and then, a moment later, Echo’s cackles from the rec room behind him.</p><p>He didn’t want to know.</p><p>...</p><p>Hardcase wiped sweat from his brow. They’d taken a short detour to scout the location of a possible new base, which was almost worse than a battle. It was hot and dry, mostly sandy desert with some rock outcropping to break up the monotony.</p><p>General Skywalker’s whining could be heard from the opposite hemisphere.</p><p>They were currently bivouacked at a small oasis, the blue water and purple plants sticking starkly out from the grey sands of the desert. It was like a holopostcard.</p><p>Fives stopped next to him, catching his breath and removing his helmet. The wing of the dropship provided some shade, but it was still warmer than any planet Hardcase had been on yet.</p><p>And, naturally, the thermal regulators in their armor had failed within two days of their arrival on this planet. General Skywalker had taught them how to fix them, but they had never worked quite the same since.</p><p>Fives took out his canteen and took a swig. His eyes widened, and he choked, before spitting out the water in his mouth.</p><p>Except something was moving in the water. Fives and Hardcase both jumped back at least a meter before Hardcase realized it was a fish, one of the ones from the oasis. He sighed, yanked Fives’s canteen out of his brother’s hand, scooped the fish back in, and went to dump it into the oasis.</p><p>On the way, he passed Echo trying to get into an overhead locker in one of the gunships. He managed to get it open after a struggle, only for a cascade of plasti bouncy balls to rain down on him. He growled, and threw one of the bouncy balls out of the ship. It pinged off the side of another gunship and out into the desert.</p><p>Hardcase shook his head and kept walking.</p><p>...</p><p>Anakin wasn’t sure what was up. The entire ship had been on edge for a tenday, with weird sounds and odd happenings everywhere. Ever since he’d found Fives taped to the ceiling no one had been safe.</p><p>The latest example of this was a strategy meeting with Obi-wan and Cody over the holocomm. They were planning to rendezvous at the next battlefield and continue in to Nar Shadda, in hopes of striking a blow to some secret Seppie foundries there.</p><p>However, hammering out the logistics was proving more difficult than anticipated, as the mic system seemed to be repeating everything Anakin and Rex tried to say.</p><p>“Is there an echo in here?” Anakin couldn’t help but ask, after the fifth random repetition of a previous sentence</p><p>Fives obviously perked up. He’d seemed like he was waiting for something the whole meeting.</p><p>“He’s by the comm console, sir,” he said, professionally. That had been the second clue that something was wrong. Fives was never professional.</p><p>The first clue was that Fives and Echo were standing on opposite sides of the room. They never stood more than a meter apart if they could help it.</p><p>“Shut up, you shebs,” Echo said bitterly. That was clue number three.</p><p>“Alright you two,” Anakin sighed, “This needs to stop, right now. It’s one thing to mess with each other, it’s another to tamper with military comms.”</p><p>Silence greeted him.</p><p>“What’s up?” He tried to ask, only to be met with more stony silence.</p><p>“They’ve been on the outs for the last eight days,” Rex sighed, “What are you two fighting about this time?”</p><p>Echo opened his mouth, blinked, and closed it. Fives raised his index finger, got a funny look on his face, and then lowered it slowly.</p><p>“You don’t even remember, do you,” Rex sighed. Echo and Fives both shook their heads sheepishly. Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose.</p><p>“Alright you two,” he said seriously, “No more pranks on each other. You’re brothers, you should get along.”</p><p>Fives and Echo traded a sideways glance, and then nodded. Anakin almost didn’t notice the speculative look they gave him, but he dismissed it. They must just be surprised that he was being more responsible.</p><p>He revised that opinion the next morning when he found his lightsaber floating serenely in a half-sphere of clear gelatin.</p><p>“ECHO! FIVES!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I realized that I’m now well over 200,000 words. While it’s a small celebratory moment, I can’t help but remember how I originally was aiming for a one shot of 5,000 words...<br/>Anyway, I love comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Odds Are He Won’t Live to See Tomorrow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Twice Vos saves his friends from sticky situations, and once where he recalls being saved.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is kind of a conglomeration of requests- I got one for the Riyo-and-Vos jumping out of a window story, and a couple to expand the Clone’s relationship with the Force. And, well, Thire having to hide from the Alphas is just too funny for me not to do. <br/>I ended up threading them together due to them being too short on their own, so the chapter might be a little choppy, but I had fun. <br/>The title is from that perennial classic song, Secret Agent Man. It describes what I envision Vos to be very well, except with less romance.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7957 CRC/20 BBY</p><p>Senate Building, Coruscant</p><p>...</p><p>Riyo looked up as Quinlan Vos sashayed into her office. The other man occasionally liked to drop in and check on her and her colleagues. He was an intelligence operative, so information was his stock in trade.</p><p>“Senator,” he nodded respectfully.</p><p>“Master Vos,” she nodded back.</p><p>“Please, ‘Master’ is, well, my Master,” Vos gestured expansively, “Call me Quinlan. I also answer to Quin, You, Stripey, Vos, and Buttface.”</p><p>She couldn’t keep herself from giggling.</p><p>“Really?” She asked, laughter in her eyes. Vos grinned back.</p><p>“Not since the crèche,” he replied, collapsing into a chair, “But a Jedi should be thorough in all they do!”</p><p>It was always fun when Vos visited. Part of the reason he was so good at his job was his way of putting people at ease and directing conversation. When he was with people he liked, he often directed the flow of chatter amuse himself and others.</p><p>They talked of nothing in particular, Vos sussing out Senatorial secrets that Riyo didn’t care too much about, Riyo trying to figure out what to send to the Guard in her next gift basket.</p><p>Their chat was interrupted by a rude banging at her door. Riyo and Vos exchanged a worried look, and Riyo turned on the intercom.</p><p>“I know she’s in,” a voice slurred over the line, faint but understandable.</p><p>“Senator Ti’nuro, I’m afraid she’s not available right at the moment. Would you like to schedule an appointment?” Her reception droid said placidly.</p><p>“No, I want to see Chuchi!” Ti’nuro snapped, banging on the door again.</p><p>“Senator Chuchi is currently in a meeting,” her droid replied.</p><p>Pantora couldn’t really afford a proper protocol droid for its Senator, so she had IG-45, a repurposed cleaning droid. Iggy had only limited function, but it did its best, which was all Riyo could ask for.</p><p>Though she resolved to go over Iggy’s harassment protocols once this situation was over. Maybe add a ‘call the Guard’ code when situations got rough.</p><p>Vos stared at the door with a thunderous face, and seemed to make a decision. He turned to her suddenly with a smile, and strode purposefully across the room.</p><p>He expertly popped one of the panes of transparisteel out of its window-frame, and leaned it against the wall. He leaned outside, posing like a dashing rogue in a pirate adventure, and theatrically licked his finger to check the wind.</p><p>He was trying to make her laugh, to put her at ease. Not for the first time was she glad that a man with such a good grasp on sentient behaviors was on the side of the angels.</p><p>“Care for a a quick jaunt, milady?” He offered her his arm, still the picture of the swashbuckling hero. She looked toward the door once more, only to hear Ti’nuro curse on the other side of it, and made her decision.</p><p>“It’s an excellent day for a flight,” she replied, and took his arm.</p><p>“Happy landings!” He replied, gently wrapped his arm around her, and the next thing she knew was free fall.</p><p>It wasn’t like she imagined; it was loud, and uncontrolled, but she still felt safe. Suddenly, she felt their acceleration... slow, like they were being pulled up by a giant magnet. When they reached the Senatorial landing pad, 200 stories below, it felt as if she had merely jumped off a ladder.</p><p>“Happy landings indeed,” she mentioned to Vos, once she got her breath back. He grinned at her, and waved at the two stunned Coruscant Guardsmen standing at the edge of the landing platform. She didn’t recognize them, but she was still having trouble matching names and faces to armor.</p><p>The Guards waved back, hesitantly, and returned to their rounds.</p><p>“Well, milady,” Vos mentioned to her, “It seems that you have a while before you should go back into your office. Would you care for lunch?”</p><p>...</p><p>Five Years Later</p><p>Dantooine Enclave</p><p>...</p><p>Quinlan Vos watched in amusement as the Alphas searched the Circle of Steel for Thire. He had heard from Fox about Thire’s brilliant idea to wake up a hundred hungover Alphas, and thought that it was hilarious. He only wished he was there to see it. He probably should be glad that he wasn’t, though, if the look on the Alpha’s faces was any indication.</p><p>It was times like these that Quinlan wondered why the Alphas were kept in reserve, as trainers. They would have been terrifying on the battlefield.</p><p>He was interrupted from his musings by a Clone bumping into him. His Force signature was familiar, but he looked completely different from when Quinlan last saw him.</p><p>“Thire?” He asked, confused. The Clone covered his mouth and hushed him.</p><p>“What are you talking about? I’m not Thire, I’m Sanchez!” He gestured to his admittedly full mustache. You could hardly tell it was fake if you didn’t look closely.</p><p>Quinlan looked at him flatly, and scanned him up and down.</p><p>Thire usually kept his hair in a buzz cut and his face clean shaven, and had some small red markings on his armor to signify his rank in the Coruscant Guard. Now he was completely bald, except for the mustache, and his armor was shiny white.</p><p>If Quinlan didn’t know Thire well, he wouldn’t recognize him. He supposed that was the point.</p><p>“Alright... Sanchez,” Quinlan drawled, muffling laughter in his robe sleeve, “What’s the plan?”</p><p>“Get off the Circle,” Thire muttered, ducking down as an Alpha stormed past them with a scowl, scanning the halls as he went.</p><p>“Yeah, it probably was a bad idea to retreat to the place your dad and uncles know you live,” Quinlan nodded, “Please tell me you didn’t go to your quarters? I saw Tate headed that way earlier.”</p><p>“I’m not that stupid,” Thire snorted, “I hid out in the painting rooms, and raided the disguise kit you keep stashed there.”</p><p>Quinlan had thought that mustache looked familiar.</p><p>“You owe me a mustache,” he nodded, and then pressed them flat against the wall as another Alpha stormed past grumpily.</p><p>“How many of them are there?” He muttered, dodging another Alpha going into the opposite direction.</p><p>“A hundred,” Thire deadpanned.</p><p>“I doubt 99 is participating in the hunt,” Quinlan shrugged, still smiling.</p><p>“No, he’s probably coordinating it with a Cadet squad hovering in the background, teaching them how to properly execute a search perimeter,” Thire nodded.</p><p>Quinlan couldn’t help but smile back at the image, before making a snap decision.</p><p>“Thire, stand still,” he ordered, putting his hands on the other man’s temples and then the hinge of his jaw.</p><p>Thire blinked, and gave a full-body shudder.</p><p>“What was that!” He asked, rubbing his face. Quin grabbed his hand before he accidentally ripped the mustache off.</p><p>“Semi-permanent Force suggestion attached to outside object,” he replied, tugging Thire along by the wrist, “Anyone who looks at you will see a shiny with a mustache.”</p><p>“Really,” Thire said pensively, and then froze as an Alpha walked past, looked him straight in the eye, and continued searching.</p><p>“That was weird,” he muttered. Quinlan nodded, and kept towing him toward the aft loading bay.</p><p>“Old Jedi Shadow trick,” he explained, “Helpful for extracting people from sticky situations.”</p><p>Thire nodded pensively.</p><p>“Even though it felt like there were bugs crawling on my face for a solid five seconds?” He asked. Quinlan blinked, and stopped. Thire poked him into moving again as another Alpha- it was Alpha-17 this time, one Thire actually recognized- rounded a corner and stared straight at them before moving on.</p><p>“Thire,” Quinlan said in a low tone, ignoring the other man’s hissed ‘Sanchez!’, “When were you tested for Force sensitivity?”</p><p>“I don’t think I ever was,” Thire shrugged, “Jango isn’t particularly Force sensitive, so we shouldn’t be either, right?”</p><p>Quinlan shook his head.</p><p>“Force Sensitivity isn’t necessarily hereditary,” he replied, “There’s evidence that where and how a child spends their first three years plays a role in it too, plus variables that we just can’t isolate at all. Aayla’s parents weren’t really Force Sensitive at all, and yet she is the best Jedi Knight of her generation.”</p><p>“You may be biased,” Thire teased.</p><p>“Master’s prerogative,” Quinlan replied, smiling back, “But my point remains that Force Sensitivity is hard to pin down. We don’t even really have a reliable indicator for it; some say that microscopic creatures called Midichlorians in the blood are a good way to measure it, but the amount of those creatures doesn’t necessarily reflect an actual connection to the Force. Some species have huge amounts just as a species-wide trait, with only a few members being able to manipulate the Force well enough to be trained as a Jedi.”</p><p>“I’m not a Jedi,” Thire replied reflexively. Quinlan ruffled his bald head.</p><p>“You certainly are, it’s in our charter and everything!” He rebutted cheerfully. Thire shook his head in confusion.</p><p>“I mean, I can’t use the Force,” he tried.</p><p>“There is more to using the Force, my Padawan,” Quinlan intoned with mischief in his eyes, “Than simply levitating eggs to drop on the Council.”</p><p>“That sounds suspiciously specific,” Thire replied skeptically, as they finally reached the hangar bay. They were let through with minimal fuss, surprisingly enough.</p><p>“Master Tholme is a very wise Jedi,” Quinlan nodded, “I should introduce you sometime. However, I have a good idea of where to hang out for a while, keep the Alphas from finding you.”</p><p>...</p><p>Thire was surprised when Vos pulled him to the Starbird, and then kept a hand on his arm as he barreled through the breakneck maze of passages the ship had become since it landed on Dantooine. They emerged into a section with colorful bulkheads and children’s handprints painted on the floor, but Thire smelled the scent of disinfectant and knew this was simply a medical tent by any other name.</p><p>“I’m sure we don’t need to bother the healers,” he tried to reason with Vos, but the Jedi kept a strong grip on his wrist.</p><p>“The healers are aren’t bothered by people visiting them!” Vos smiled, “They get a little weird if they go too long without sentient contact.”</p><p>That was not comforting.</p><p>“They’re researchers,” Vos must have sensed his trepidation, and tried to reassure him, “Odd turtle-ducks, but harmless.”</p><p>“Researchers?” Thire gulped, and was abruptly taken back to Kamino, feeling the eyes of the Kaminoans Scientists on him and his batch while they ran exercises with Tate.</p><p>“Hey, hey, no!” Vos told him, putting hands on his shoulders, gently, and looking into his eyes.</p><p>“They’re nothing like the Kaminoans,” Vos said, gently and yet forcefully, “And if you don’t want to see them, we can hide out somewhere else. You’re safe, Thire.”</p><p>Thire took a couple of breaths, and centered himself. He wasn’t on Kamino, he was on the Starbird, in the middle of a hospital that wasn’t sterile white but all colors of the rainbow, painted with kid’s handprints.</p><p>“You’ll be there?” He had to ask, because all the reassurance in the world meant less than half as much as the lunatic Jedi next to him. Vos was crazy, but he was on their side, and that was the best kind of crazy there was.</p><p>“Sure,” Vos nodded, but kept his hands on Thire’s shoulders while he looked the other man over with a critical eye. When he was satisfied that Thire was calm enough, he let go of one shoulder, but kept a steadying hand on Thire’s spaulder while they walked up to a bright pink door. He checked on Thire again before knocking at the door. Thire braced himself, but smiled at Vos to try and assuage the obviously worried older man.</p><p>He was taken off-guard by the exuberant Weequay woman who threw the door open. He was taken even more off-Guard when she threw herself into a hug with Vos.</p><p>“Quinlan!” She shrieked happily, spinning him around. Vos grinned over her shoulder at him as he twirled with her.</p><p>Well. She definitely didn’t remind him of a Kaminoans Scientist, that’s for sure. Vos put the woman down and turned her to face him, gently holding her back from another hug.</p><p>“Tenia, this is Thire,” he introduced, “Thire, this is Genetic Research Healer Tenia Omida, she’s the mastermind behind the aging cure.”</p><p>“Me and all the rest of Genet!” Healer Omida swept her arms grandly, almost clocking Vos in the eye if he hadn’t ducked, “We’re the best!”</p><p>“No, the Shadows are the best!” Vos countered fondly, in the tone of one continuing an old and friendly argument, “But Thire and I are actually here today to test your comprehensive knowledge of the Clone genome.”</p><p>He turned to Thire and probably saw his slight nervousness, because he smiled again and clapped Healer Omida in the shoulder. “</p><p>We’re friends from the crèche,” he explained, “She plays a mean prank. Don’t worry, she doesn’t prank patients!”</p><p>Healer Omida actually bounced up and down and clapped her hands. Definitely not the kind of Scientist Thire needed to be wary of.</p><p>He felt himself smile as he was invited into the office, which was covered in knickknacks and scientific apparatus in near-equal measure. Some of the doodads he recognized from popular children’s cartoons that he came across on Coruscant.</p><p>“Sit down, sit down!” Healer Omida bid them cheerfully, “What do you need to know?”</p><p>“Is it not normal to feel like someone is tickling you with a feather when someone uses the Force on you?” Thire asked. Healer Omida stopped and stared at him, shocked for a moment, and then rushed to a holocomm and pulled up a database.</p><p>“Fascinating!” She warbled, and scrolled through a list of entries that Thire couldn’t make heads or tails of, even if they were passing at normal speed, “To answer your question, that’s normally the sign of a Force-Sensitive, though not necessarily one with enough strength to train as a Force User. Many people are just sensitive enough to feel when the Force is being used without being able to manipulate it themselves.”</p><p>“Toyadrians, for example,” Vos clarified to Thire, barely managing to get a word in edgewise, “Can sense mind tricks.”</p><p>Thire nodded slowly. It was comprehensible so far.</p><p>“Another decent-sized percentage of people can sense and use the Force unconsciously, but aren’t quite able to train as a full Force User either. Faster reflexes, greater speed, sometimes even slight unconscious precognition...” Healer Omida had evidently found what she was looking for on the holodatabase, and enlarged the data.</p><p>“Most Clone’s midichlorian counts are within a couple standard deviations of Force-Null,” She chirped, “But midichlorians are tricky critters, and have only a correlative relationship with Force-Sensitivity anyway.”</p><p>“That’s how initial Force-Sensitivity tests are done in the Republic,” Vos explained, “If a child’s midichlorian levels are above a certain threshold, a Jedi finder is sent to test them. Other times, Jedi will discover young Force-Sensitives on missions. That’s how I found Aayla!”</p><p>Thire nodded slowly.</p><p>“What kind of tests?” He asked, with slight trepidation. Vos looked at him carefully, and then picked up a plastifoam ball.</p><p>“We’re going to bounce this off you and see what happens!” He grinned a maniacal grin. Thire barely had time to duck.</p><p>...</p><p>Fox looked up from his paperwork and blinked. Vos was standing in the doorway, grinning like a lunatic.</p><p>He braced himself, but Vos merely waltzed into his office, pulling a shiny after him. Something about looking at the shiny gave Fox a headache.</p><p>“Hello,” he tried to greet his brother, “What’s your name?”</p><p>Vos blinked, and so did the shiny.</p><p>“I knew I was forgetting something!” Vos gestured, and tapped his hands on the side of the shiny’s face. Fox felt the pulling sensation that always seemed to come with Force stuff, and then he recognized Thire. With a mustache, admittedly, and a bald head, but unmistakeably Thire.</p><p>“Vos,” He said tiredly, “What are you doing with Dantooine’s Most Wanted? And why did he have a Force Thing on him?”</p><p>“Thire needed help escaping, and we just found something out,” Vos grinned, and there was that pulling sensation again. Fox looked around for whatever Vos was doing, only to see the Jedi watching him closely. Vos also had a hand behind his back. Fox started to back up slowly.</p><p>Vos must have noticed his nervousness, because he revealed his hand, with his comm levitating a couple centimeters above it.</p><p>“You could feel that, couldn’t you,” he said, consideringly. Fox nodded.</p><p>“Pulling sensation, I always feel that way when someone uses the Force,” he replied, “Why?”</p><p>“Congratulations, Fox, you’re not a Force Null. Though, well, technically, nearly no one is actually Force Null- the Force surrounds us, and penetrates us-“</p><p>“Your point, Vos?” Fox interrupted. Vos could go on tangents with the best of them.</p><p>Vos simply floated the comm over to him and dropped it in his hand.</p><p>“It might explain why some of your brothers are so good at running,” Vos shrugged. Fox remembered those Shinies that liked to follow Tano around and nodded. He’d just thought that the Kaminoans had started to put muscle enhancers in their food.</p><p>“But that’s not why I’m here!” Vos drew himself up again suddenly, and produced a cake from nowhere.</p><p>Fox had a bad feeling about this.</p><p>“It’s the anniversary of when I first got arrested for drunk and disorderly!” Vos proclaimed, “We should celebrate!”</p><p>“Couldn’t find any alcohol?” Fox asked dryly.</p><p>“The Alphas drank most of it last night,” Vos shrugged.</p><p>“No wonder they were so hungover,” Fox replied, but allowed himself to be roped into the festivities anyway.</p><p>Thire was evidently feeling his oats that evening. He stuck his foot out in front of Fox at just the right moment to trip him. Vos was faster, though, and caught Fox with the Force.</p><p>“My hero,” he remarked dryly to Vos, “You saved me and Thire today. We need to save you one of these days!”</p><p>Vos carefully let him go, and smiled back at him with an odd expression in his eyes.</p><p>“You already have,” He said, staring at nothing.</p><p>“I don’t remember that,” Thire said interestedly. Fox didn’t like the look in Vos’s eyes, or the way he smiled suddenly, with no joy.</p><p>“Some Jedi philosophers say that when you stare into the abyss long enough,” Vos said abruptly, “It stares into you.”</p><p>Fox thought of the cold pits that Palpatine had for eyes, and had to agree.</p><p>“I’ve always known that I was at risk for falling,” Vos continued, “I’m a Shadow, I see the worst of what the galaxy provides on a rotational basis. It only got worse during the war.”</p><p>Fox could only imagine. His brothers on the front had told stories of horrors.</p><p>“It wasn’t so bad when I had Aayla,” Vos explained, “Because I knew that she was waiting for me to come back. I had a responsibility to her. But then she was Knighted, and I had no reason to not take that extra step, not to get angry, not to slip a little further into the Dark. My eyes turned yellow twice, I was so scared they would stay that way each time. So I got drunk.”</p><p>Fox glared at him. His therapist had a lot to say about unhealthy coping mechanisms, and had drilled it into his head that substance use of any kind was not on the table.</p><p>Vos raised his hand to forestall the protest from Fox and Thire.</p><p>“Not the best idea, I know, but I was at my wit’s end,” he sighed, and then smiled, genuinely this time, “And then I got arrested.”</p><p>“Getting arrested is not usually a positive memory,” Fox deadpanned.</p><p>“Ah, Guard Officer Otis was just so earnest and determined!” Vos reminisced, “And very polite, he even slowed down when I asked him to.”</p><p>Sounded like Otis. The kid didn’t have a mean bone in his body.</p><p>“I gave him a couple tips on police procedure on the way, or so I’m told. I don’t really remember,” Vos shrugged, “And then I woke up in the drunk tank, and had to identify myself as a Jedi, and gave a couple more tips to some of the guards there to make sure a prisoner didn’t get the best of them. And to you, of course, Fox.”</p><p>“I still can’t fill out reports that fast,” Fox raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“I have a couple decades on you,” Vos shrugged, “You’ll catch up.”</p><p>“We don’t get arrested as often as you do,” Thire pointed out. Vos shrugged again.</p><p>“The next time I was tempted to Fall, it was because I was in the middle of a bad situation with a lot of people I couldn’t help. I almost gave in until I remembered that there were people I could help- I could help you, but not if I Fell. It was enough to get me through the war.”</p><p>Fox didn’t know what to think. Vos never seemed touchable, there one day and gone the next, always three steps ahead of anyone.</p><p>“Thank you for being there for us,” Thire said quietly. Fox could only nod.</p><p>Vos smiled back, softer than usual and with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, before straightening up.</p><p>“Enough with the glooming, we have cake to eat!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love reviews! This was more a Vos-centric chapter, tell me what you thought of him!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. State of the Republic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Clones and Jedi couldn’t pretend to have vanished forever.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m still alive! It’s a miracle!<br/>I’ve had too many coding projects and too little time for the last three weeks or so, so I had to postpone the chapter. Here’s a nice long one to make up for it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7968 CRC, 9 BBY</p><p>...</p><p> </p><p>Cody had a bad feeling about this. Bail Organa had called Obi-wan with ‘urgent news,’ and Obi-wan had called an emergency council meeting as soon as he had gotten off the comm line. Cody had been on the opposite side of a loud hangar bay during the call, but his brother had an uncharacteristic worried expression as they quickly walked to the council chamber.</p><p>“What’s the problem, Obi-wan?” Anakin asked after they had called Council to session.</p><p>“Bail Organa just called, and he informed me that the Coruscant Star has published an article about the Jedi Order’s relationship with the Clones,” Obi-wan said evenly, still looking more than a little worried, “And they have included the theory that the Clones are with us, though they haven’t discovered where we are yet.”</p><p>“We knew this would happen,” Ponds replied, “We made no real attempt to conceal that we travel together.”</p><p>“Yes, but this does mean we need to be on our guard,” Windu nodded.</p><p>“No secrets, we have, but tell them to those who do not ask, we do not either,” Yoda added.</p><p>The policy irritated Cody, who was used to much more... rigid security and secrecy concerning operational structure. However, he understood the reasoning behind it. People needed to trust the Jedi. Not offering information could be excused with the Jedi’s reputation for mystery, but outright lying and keeping secrets would damage the public’s trust and in turn damage the Jedi’s reputation for impartiality.</p><p>This did not mean he was happy with it.</p><p>“Should we post the release to the holonet?” He asked, mostly because politics was still not his forte. With Obi-wan’s help, he had been learning, but it was slow going.</p><p>They’d given up on teaching Alpha politics at all. He kept threatening to shoot people.</p><p>“Perhaps we should wait a day. Releasing it too soon could be seen as defensive, or even like we’re trying to cover something up,” Billaba replied.</p><p>They had prepared a press release quite some time ago, anticipating this eventuality. They knew their location would not be secret forever.</p><p>“We need to think about our next move, after the release,” Tin countered.</p><p>“Should we send a delegation to the Senate? We need to nip accusations of desertion and illegal activities in the bud, before we’re all declared traitors to the Republic,” Koth asked, “Who should we send?”</p><p>Cody didn’t need to look at Obi-wan to know that his brother had a resigned expression on his face. He figured his own face was pretty similar.</p><p>It was a pain being the Negotiator sometimes, and even more a pain being the Negotiator’s brother.</p><p>“Oh, come on, Obi-wan,” Anakin tried to encourage his former Master, “You can visit Dex!”</p><p>“Just for that, Anakin,” Obi-wan said dryly, “I think I’ll request you come with us.”</p><p>Rex slapped Anakin on the back of the head. The Council chuckled, and moved on in the discussion.</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan sighed. To absolutely no one’s surprise, he and Cody had been picked for the Senate delegation. Anakin had been vetoed, due to probably justified terror of his negotiation skills. The other Jedi assigned with them was Quinlan Vos, due to the man’s truly impressive collection of Senatorial blackmail and illicit secrets. Fox was probably coming with them too, with a contingent from the Guard. He knew the Senate better than anyone.</p><p>Vos had a downright shifty look in his eyes. Fox was nervous, Obi-wan could tell, but hiding it admirably. The Commander was mostly sticking right next to Vos, and it warmed Obi-wan’s heart to see his crechemate and old friend playing the role of protective older brother.</p><p>Now if only he had a way to tease Quin about it. The Kiffar man had been insufferable during the first few years of Anakin’s apprenticeship.</p><p>Their ship docked at the official receiving gate of the Senate, and the ramp lowered to a truly impressive swarm of holo reporters crowding the disembarking point. The Senate Guard were hard pressed to keep them back. </p><p>Obi-wan had to suppress a smile when he heard Fox grumbling under his breath about the Senate Guard’s incompetence and how he would have handled the event.</p><p>“Ah, But Fox!” He murmured back, “You are not a lowly Guardsman, you are a foreign dignitary! You outrank all these people!”</p><p>Apparently that thought had not occurred to Fox, as his eyes grew large. Quinlan snickered next to him. Fox abruptly gave a beatific smile.</p><p>“I think I will establish myself as in charge of security,” he said, and bustled over to the Senate Guards and started barking orders. The Guards hastened to so as he said, scrambling around like digger ants, but by the time he had finished with them the perimeter was much more secure.</p><p>Fox had a subtle smug smile on his face when he rejoined their group at the podium where Obi-wan had been fielding questions. Cody elbowed him in the side before any of the cameras could notice.</p><p>“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long,” Fox sighed wistfully as they were escorted to the conference room. Obi-wan could respect that, so he poked Quinlan when the other man started sniggering.</p><p>Of course, the ordeal did not end when they arrived at the conference chamber. Oh, no, it had only begun. Their first meeting was not with the entire Senate, merely with the Subcommittee for Interplanetary Relations.</p><p>Obi-wan had not realized that such a Subcommittee existed. He braced himself for rigorous questioning, but mostly the delegates seemed to want to poke and prod at him.</p><p>“Master Jedi,” said the chairperson, adjusting a pair of glasses. Was pair really the right word? The article in question had six lenses, one for each of the being’s eyes.</p><p>“We understand that you will not disclose the location of your settlement, where the Jedi Order and the Jango Fett Clones have settled?”</p><p>“The Clones are members of the Order as much as any natborn,” Obi-wan replied evenly, “And we have no obligation to reveal the location of our settlements, as we have several. Property deeds are confidential by Republic Law.”</p><p>Everything he said was true, from a certain point of view. Technically, the Temple on Corellia was a Jedi settlement, as well as the abandoned temples at Lothal, Jedha, Illum, and others. He never did clarify whether all the settlements were currently inhabited, or by which Jedi sect they had been established.</p><p>The Council had decided to keep quiet on the exact location of the Enclave, still. No need to invite trouble. Land holdings were confidential, due to a law passed by the Commerce Guilds to make buying large swathes of land cheaper, so the council had simply decided not to specify where exactly they were, other than an uninhabited planet within Republic territory.</p><p>“The Religious Freedom Act of 6527 prevents the interaction of any planet that prevents free exercise of religion from trading or making treaties with the Republic,” said a self-important Muun.</p><p>“The Jedi Order does not prevent any such free exercise among our members,” Obi-wan said placidly, “If any of us, or our younglings, express a desire to follow a certain religion, we certainly will not stop them so long as they do not harm others. Jedi Master Depa Billaba is a follower of the Chalactan religion The Star’s Way, and her beliefs have not prevented her from rising to prominence in our Order.”</p><p>“But you actively hunt and kill Sith,” said a vicious delegate whose species Obi-wan didn’t know, “Like our very own Supreme Chancellor, is that not so?”</p><p>Obi-wan blinked. He was not aware there were any Palpatine supporters left in the Senate. He took a moment to formulate his reply, but his train of thought was interrupted by Commander Fox tapping on his shoulder.</p><p>“Sir,” He said quietly, “Can I field this one?”</p><p>Obi-wan nodded, slowly, and handed over the voice broadcaster. He was so preoccupied that he forgot to remind Fox not to call him sir.</p><p>“Senators and Representatives,” Fox began, “My name is Commander Fox, and I lead the Coruscant Guard. As such, I have a passing familiarity with the laws of this Great Republic.”</p><p>...</p><p>Only someone who knew Fox well could pick up the traces of sarcasm in his words. Quinlan prepared to interfere if necessary, but settled next to Obi-wan to listen to his Commander’s words.</p><p>“Firstly, the Jedi were not acting according to their religion when they attempted to arrest Chancellor Palpatine, but according to Republic Law. During the Sith Wars, this very body passed Addendum Z13, which made it illegal for anyone to hold prominent office in the Republic without openly declaring their religion. Palpatine went out of his way to conceal his religion, stating publicly that he was not religious, thus putting him in violation of this law.</p><p>“Furthermore, the 7934 Act Concerning Force Users in Government made it illegal for a Force User of any belief system to use their powers for political gain, and as soon as Palpatine’s allegiances were revealed there arose immediate questions about how he maintained power.</p><p>“Finally, of course, there was the matter of Palaptine’s actions while he was in office- notably starting a war, moving to consolidate his power long after he should have been removed from office, and finally attempting to overthrow the government by force of arms with the override orders in our slave chips. These moves were against the very Constitution of the Republic he claimed to uphold, and so required examination in court of law.”</p><p>“They killed him!” The disagreeable delegate spat back.</p><p>“He charged them with a deadly weapon and lethal intent,” Fox replied flatly, “Which is illegal for anyone to do, not only Sith. There was no way to subdue him, so they had to kill him. The images of the fight are on the holonet. See for yourself, they acted completely within Republic regulation for Containment and Neutralization of Rogue Force Users.”</p><p>If barely, Quin supposed. Generally, Force Users were supposed to be given more opportunities to surrender, but that was a courtesy and not strictly required.</p><p>“He was the Chancellor! Surely they Jedi Council could have found a way-“ the delegate really would not shut up.</p><p>“Chancellor or not,” Fox said, deceptively pleasantly, “He was not above Republic law. Or do you believe he should have been?”</p><p>The delegate spluttered but quieted, and Obi-wan took over for the rest of the questioning.</p><p>It went much smoother than he expected. They were escorted to their quarters shortly after, and finally the reporters and delegates left them alone.</p><p>As soon as the door closed behind the last Senate Guard, Fox took a vent cover off the wall, removed a small device, and tossed it down the incinerator shaft in the kitchen. Routine and Splat, who had been assigned with them for the diplomatic mission, started combing the rest of the apartment while the Commanders and Masters convened in the living room.</p><p>“I didn’t realize you were so conversant in Republic Law, Commander,” Obi-wan mentioned to Fox with a mischievous smile.</p><p>Fox shrugged back.</p><p>“Sometimes the only way to stay awake in long Senate meetings is try to follow all the legalese. I’d use my HUD to look up the referenced bills and laws while the Senate was speaking about them. Eventually I remembered enough of them that I didn’t need my HUD anymore,” he replied, “And Representative Viskar always attacks with big allegations, but can’t quite figure out how to counter a well-thought-out legal defense.”</p><p>Splat paused in his sweep of the quarters to poke his head into the room.</p><p>“If he gives you anymore trouble, ask him to disclose where most of his campaign funds for his last election came from,” he offered, and then continued his search.</p><p>Obi-wan blinked at him. Fox shrugged again.</p><p>“A lot of the Senators used to think of as kind of like moving furniture. I know a lot of stuff they probably wouldn’t want getting out, so do most of the Guard, which might work to our advantage,” he clarified.</p><p>Quinlan didn’t like the blank look on Fox’s face, so he slung his arm over the other man’s shoulder and ruffled his hair a bit. It was a sign of how distressed Fox really was that he only made a token objection to his fancy hairstyle being mussed.</p><p>Obi-wan was looking at them with consideration in his eyes. Quinlan wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but the other Jedi simply nodded and they started discussing their strategy for the meeting the next day.</p><p>...</p><p>Fox was surprised when Kenobi pulled him aside the next day.</p><p>“Commander,” the redhead addressed him politely, as was his habit, “I would like to request that you be seated as my co-Representative for these talks.”</p><p>Okay, he had been surprised, and now he was shocked. He blinked at Kenobi, who was looking steadily more awkward by the moment.</p><p>“You’re probably the most qualified here when it comes to Republic Law,” the other man continued, “While I have extensive experience in negotiations for treaties and other arbitration, I’m not as conversant in general legislative parlance as you appear to be.”</p><p>Fox blinked again, and nodded slowly.</p><p>“You want me,” he said slowly, “To help negotiate for our people?”</p><p>Kenobi nodded gently.</p><p>Fox imagined what it would be like, sitting in the pod and feeling it drift into the center of the Senate Chamber, feeling the eyes of thousands of delegates on him, judging. Few Senators viewed Clones as human, let alone worthy of respect. He would sit in the middle of a chamber full of people who didn’t think him worthy of their time, who had looked down on him for years. He felt a little smaller at the thought.</p><p>But then he remembered the Subcommittee for Interplanetary Relations, and how good it felt to be able to rebut Senator Iblis’s hateful accusations. And how a few Representatives from that Committee had started to look at him with wariness in their eyes.</p><p>He’d be able to do a lot of good for his brothers, speaking in the Senate. He could show the Galaxy that they weren’t just automatons, they were people, with all the snooty airs and graces that the natborns tried to used to differentiate themselves from the clones.</p><p>He could help his brothers, and he could rub it in the Senate’s face. There was only once answer to Kenobi’s request.</p><p>“I’d be honored,” he said, suppressing his nervousness. Kenobi looked him carefully in the eyes, and then nodded with a slight bow.</p><p>It wasn’t much longer after that when they left to attend the Senate session. They had been given a pod usually reserved for guest speakers, not quite high up like the Core world pods but not in the basement like the aid organizations and criminal cartels were often kept either. Fox considered that a good sign.</p><p>He almost froze before stepping into the pod. Vos was at his shoulder, taking up a guard position opposite Cody at the pod entrance, and gave Fox a reassuring smile when he looked over at the older man.</p><p>“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Vos murmured softly, “Obi-wan can talk himself out of trouble just fine on his own, he’s been doing it since the crèche.”</p><p>Fox took a deep breath, staring out into the sea of sentience slowly filling the Senate chamber, and squared his shoulders. If he quit now, he would always wonder what it could be like, what he could have done.</p><p>“If I don’t, I will always think of the possibilities I gave up,” he replied to Vos, “And I’ve had enough possibility denied me that I can’t afford to deny myself.”</p><p>Vos nodded and settled against the column at the entrance of the pod. Cody was standing at parade rest on the other side. Fox took comfort that his brothers were watching his back, and stepped into the pod.</p><p>It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. No one was staring- they were too busy with their own business. He watched the other delegates settle in their pods, with some curious glances thrown their way, and listened as the chamber filled with the unique kind of sound that always preceded a Senate session: a babble of a thousand tongues and species, at the same time quiet and louder than a destroyer’s engine, bouncing around a room that had been engineered for precise acoustics more than a thousand years ago. It was a strangely comforting and familiar noise.</p><p>Fox settled in the chair next to Kenobi, and watched with a vague sense of Deja Vu as the meeting was called to order and the roiling bubble of sound eventually receded. He thought he would feel more nervous, but this- this was familiar. This had been his life for years, and this part, this listening to each planet speak as they confirmed arrival, hadn’t been one of the bad ones. He had liked Senate meetings, when he was a Guard. When the Senate was in session, Palpatine couldn’t get him.</p><p>The Chancellor and his Vice Chancellor did the traditional attendance check, and announced that ninety three percent of Republic planets had sent representatives. Fox almost was surprised at the unusually high number, during the war the attendance had ranged from forty to sixty percent, before he remembered that most Separatists worlds had sent a representative back to the Senate after the war. And the session continued.</p><p>He listened quietly to many of the points of order that came up before they did, filing them away by habit. Some mid-Rim worlds were having a trade dispute concerning tibanna gas. Corellia wanted lower tariffs on goods imported to Coruscant- that wasn’t new. Some Outer Rim planets were having Hutt trouble, people being kidnapped to be sold as slaves. Fox made a note to quietly slip those Senators the contact information for the Jedi Council’s request line.</p><p>Finally, Bail Organa’s pod floated to the center of the chamber, and he gave a short introductory speech before floating back to his dock. And then- then Fox felt their own pod start to float, up and up to the center of the top of the chamber. He had thought the motion would be more abrupt; the gentle buoyant motion seemed to take forever.</p><p>Then he registered the eyes. Everyone was looking at him, it felt like, staring curiously or hatefully or indifferently, and it was exactly like he thought it would be. He felt like the bugs that Senator R’tan kept pinned to card-flimsi and displayed in glass cases in his office, or the fish that Representative Jer kept in a tank in hers. There was no place to go.</p><p>He was surprised, when Kenobi lightly touched the back of his hand.</p><p>“You don’t have to speak, Commander,” the Jedi said, “And they cannot hurt you. I won’t let them. If need be, we can return to dock and allow you off.”</p><p>Fox shook his head. That would work against everything he wanted. These people could smell fear and counted it as a weakness. He could stand to be stared at, for his brothers.</p><p>The pod finally reached the speaking altitude and drifted to a stop. Kenobi stood and bowed, and Fox hesitated before standing as well. He needed to do this for his brothers. But he did not bow; he’d bowed to the Senate enough.</p><p>“I am Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi,” his fellow Jedi introduced himself, and Fox still felt a little bit of wonder that he could say that he was a Jedi too, “And this is Commander Ehn’eta-Cuir (1), my co-Representative.”</p><p>Fox nodded, throat dry. He followed Kenobi’s subtle gesture to sit while the older main launched into a speech outlining the Order’s reasons for moving to Dantooine. It wasn’t anything Fox hadn’t heard before, but he listened anyway. Kenobi was really rather good at tricking you into sympathizing with him.</p><p>Not that Fox didn’t sympathize with him anyway, but it was interesting to listen to. He settled in, trying to look as uninteresting as possible.</p><p>The stares even got a little better after a while.</p><p>...</p><p>Riyo watched politely as Master Kenobi made his speech. It was a good speech, but a mite repetitive, as she already agreed with everything he was saying.</p><p>Her eyes kept drifting to Fox, who looked stiff and very uncomfortable in the pod. She had felt the same way on her first day in the Senate- like everyone was staring at her. Her Heart went out to him.</p><p>She may have stared a little bit herself, though she hoped it was a different kind of staring than her colleagues were doing. What? Fox was very nice to look at.</p><p>Kenobi finished his speech, and sat down to open debate. Riyo had high hopes that it would go smoothly, but she was perhaps too hopeful. Almost as soon as Kenobi had sat down, the delegate from Muunlist shot up.</p><p>“Lies!” He yelped, “Lies and slander!”</p><p>Riyo wondered what part of Kenobi’s speech the representative was talking about. Most of it was quite easily provable.</p><p>“The Fett Clones are property of the Republic! The Jedi stole them, and are depriving us of our main line of defense!” The delegate spat.</p><p>“Technically,” Kenobi pointed out, the picture of gentility, “You can’t steal a person, you kidnap them. And we didn’t force the Clones to go anywhere they didn’t want to.”</p><p>“They’re not people!” The delegate rebutted. Fox winced, minutely. Kenobi tried to cut in, but the delegate spoke over him.</p><p>“They’re droids, that’s all! They look like men, sure, but they’re not! They have no souls, no heart, only computers! They’re just flesh droids!”</p><p>The delegate’s words rang in the chamber. Riyo sat for a moment, shocked, and then quickly reached for the button that would allow her to rebut the delegate.</p><p>Fox beat her to it.</p><p>He had been getting madder and madder as the delegate spoke, his face twisting in fury before his eyes went cold. He stood up with purpose, and fell into a parade rest that somehow looked defiant and threatening.</p><p>“My name is Fox Ehn’eta-Cuir. I am a person,” he said lowly, “Some of you might doubt that. Don’t. I was named for my cleverness and skill, and my family name is very precious to me. My father, Corsac, was called Alpha-34, when I was growing up. My brothers and I were his charges, and were termed Squadron 34. I carry that with me, as I carry the names of those same brothers, especially the ones who march on ahead. I am a person, and I have a family, my father and my brothers and my cyare (2) and her family as well.”</p><p>Riyo gently rubbed her courtship necklace, smiling softly.</p><p>“You ask why we left. The slave chips that had been implanted into our brains carried at least one contingency order that would force us to violently overthrow this very democracy that you claim to espouse. The Chancellor attempted to activate that order, though thankfully he failed.</p><p>“We went to Kamino to remove them, and then we stayed to take care of our younger brothers. You didn’t care about us when we were grown, but you cared even less about us when we were children.</p><p>“Do you know what it’s like to look your brother in the face as they’re taken away to be killed because they weren’t good enough? We couldn’t let that happen anymore. Children shouldn’t be trained as soldiers. So we left Kamino, and took our brothers with us.</p><p>“The Jedi were leaving for reasons of their own, concern for their younger members safety among them, and offered us a place at their settlement. The Jedi are our family, too. They cared about us when no one else did. So we went with them, and we are building a home, someplace our young ones will never have to know War.”</p><p>“You have a duty to the Republic!” A delegate yelled. Riyo couldn’t make out which one, but she mentally cursed him anyway. A small clamor went up after he spoke, with Chancellor Mothma was forced to call for order.</p><p>“A duty,” Fox repeated, “A duty to the Republic. The Republic does not recognize us as people. Droids cannot have duties, they have functions. Either admit we are people or stop insisting we have duty- you cannot have both.</p><p>“The Republic gave us life, perhaps. We may owe it something for that. Personally, I’ve paid the Republic thirteen years of my life. I’ve paid it countless brothers. I’ve paid it suffering and pain, blood and tears. I count the balance more than even.</p><p>“You ask why we left. I commanded the Coruscant Guard in this very Senate. We were police officers and bodyguards, investigation units and soldiers. We put our lives on the line every day, and were paid nothing but food worse than the stuff you serve to your prisoners and a hard, narrow slab of steel for a bed. We couldn’t marry our sweethearts, and we could have no children of our own. We only had our brothers, and we always ran the risk of losing them</p><p>“I lost 327 men from the Guard over the course of four years, some killed apprehending suspects or in pursuit, some foiling assassination or other violence against the Senate and Senators, and some caught in the crossfire of the gangs on the lower levels. 284 of those men had names, but there is no memorial here with their names on them. There’s no wall with their numbers and ages, like you have for the Senate Guard. You thought of us as something to be used and thrown away- and you wonder why we left?</p><p>“We will help your people, when you ask, because no one deserves to be without help, especially children. But we aren’t yours. We never were, and we never will be again. We are our own, and if we are to begin negotiations, you should remember that.”</p><p>The silence echoed when he sat down. Riyo had never heard the Senate chamber so still. She started to clap, mostly to encourage Fox, and was surprised when other people started too. It wasn’t the roaring applause she had heard for other bills and representatives, but it was pleasant to see others showing their support.</p><p>Fox looked a bit surprised, but nodded briskly in acknowledgement and sat down again. The pod floated gently in the air for the rest of the day as Kenobi and Fox debated provisos of the Senate’s relationship with Dantooine.</p><p>She never knew Fox was such a good speaker.</p><p>...</p><p>Cody watched the underside of the pod floating high above them as Obi-wan made his speech, and then waited for rebuttal. He wasn’t expecting the vitriol that immediately greeted him.</p><p>“Should we have brought a bigger security detail? It’s madness up there,” he mentioned to Vos.</p><p>Hey, he got nervous when people talked about his not being a person and made noises about wanting to conscript him again.</p><p>“Madness? This isn’t madness,” Vos sneered, “This is politics.”</p><p>He made an unflattering sign in the general direction of the Senate as a whole, and settled in with crossed arms, face thunderous. Cody knew he wasn’t much better.</p><p>Cody just got madder the more the representative spoke. He waited for Kenobi to rebut, but was surprised when his older brother’s voice wasn’t the one he heard.</p><p>It was Fox. Fox, who had been mistreated by the Senate and Palpatine for years in this very building. Cody couldn’t say he was especially close to Fox, not like he was to Rex and Fox was to Thire, but they were brothers, so he knew that Fox had been nervous the entire time they had been on Coruscant.</p><p>He didn’t sound nervous anymore. He sounded furious. Well, that was one way to get over stage fright.</p><p>He was more eloquent than Cody had expected as well. His Senator girlfriend must be rubbing off on him.</p><p>It was a good speech, Cody thought. He though about his own brothers marching ahead, the ones who had no memorial but the litany he and others said every night. They should do something about that; the litany would be enough for him and his brothers, but eventually they would march ahead too, and there would be no one left to say the names that weren’t written down.</p><p>He should bring that before the Council.</p><p>He didn’t expect for Fox’s speech to have applause. The whole point of it was to rub the Senators’ faces in what they had done, what they wanted to continue to do. Then again, the Senate was perhaps not the most self-aware group.</p><p>“Politics,” Vos muttered again across from him, but he looked less mad.</p><p>That seemed to be the turning point of the meeting; there were no more delegates doubting Cody and his brothers’ humanity, or at least, none who admitted it aloud. Fox was pretty good at this politics thing.</p><p>Cody was just bored out of his mind, standing at the doorway to the empty dock and listening to the endless speeches droning on about legal minutiae. At this point, he wasn’t even quite sure what the goal was for this meeting.</p><p>He had thought that the main reason they were on Coruscant was to convince the Senate not to try to annex the Order, or heaven forbid, invade Dantooine and conscript them by force. Fox and Obi-wan seemed to be pushing for more, though, or at least Kenobi was and Fox was backing him up with legal terminology that made Cody’s head spin.</p><p>He couldn’t fathom how Fox had done this for years. He’d only been here for a few hours and he thought his ears would melt off. He strongly suspected that Vos had fallen asleep standing up, judging by the way he was blankly glaring at the hall and breathing deeply and evenly. Knowing him, he would also be perfectly awake and alert the moment something out of the ordinary happened.</p><p>Lucky kark. Cody had never quite mastered the art.</p><p>Finally, blessedly, the pod and Fox and Obi-wan were in began to drift downward and the Senate dome filled with the rustling of delegates collecting their notes and aides to return to their offices or their homes.</p><p>Vos woke up, as Cody predicted, and smiled brightly. He swooped into the pod as it docked, ruffled Obi-wan’s hair with a smile, and swept Fox into a hug. Fox immediately tried to escape, but Vos was not having it.</p><p>Cody watched with a smile as Obi-wan dodged the flying elbows and exited the pod.</p><p>“Another day, another credit,” his brother murmured, and they waited patiently for the wrestling match to stop before heading back to their suite.</p><p>...</p><p>Fox was surprised when he heard a light knock at the door. Routine went to answer, as he was on guard duty. He was less surprised when he heard Routine’s happy greeting.</p><p>“Senator Chuchi!” His younger brother exclaimed happily, “It’s good to see you!”</p><p>Fox looked up at his beloved’s name and smiled. Being near Riyo was one of the few upsides of this karking planet.</p><p>That and Dex’s Diner. He eyed the takeout boxes and tried to calculate if he could manage another handful of tuber fries, though he knew the effort was likely futile. He felt stuffed.</p><p>Riyo sat next to him, bid a quick hello to the others, and gave him a short peck on the cheek before stealing some of his fries. He managed to head off the teasing from his brothers with a glare, but was soon distracted when she took his hand and began talking excitedly.</p><p>“That was amazing, Fox! You had them eating out of your hand! My public speaking instructors would weep with envy if they could see you!” She chattered.</p><p>Fox felt his face warming up and ducked his head. Cody sniggered at him anyway, the shebs.</p><p>“It wasn’t that good,” he muttered.</p><p>“Were you on shift for my first speech at the Senate?” Riyo countered, “I stuttered and stared like a schoolgirl meeting her favorite boy band!”</p><p>“It was perfectly nice,” Fox tried to counter. He’d thought so, at least, at the time. It was more genuine than a lot of the other speeches he had heard.</p><p>“You’re biased,” Vos deadpanned at him, and Riyo laughed. He loved her laugh.</p><p>“I actually did have a reason to visit,” she replied, “Can I borrow Fox for a moment?”</p><p>“You can have him the entire week, if you want,” Cody waved his hand, “Just bring him back before we go home. Or don’t. In fact, why don’t you just keep him?”</p><p>Fox scowled at his brother while Vos cackled in amusement.</p><p>“Do I need to offer my services as chaperone?” He teased. Fox whacked him on the back of the head.</p><p>They wandered into the next room, to a further barrage of childish comments. Riyo pulled him down at the table in the kitchen, and kept hold of his hand after they were seated.</p><p>She seemed nervous, so he simply squeezed on her hand gently and let her talk.</p><p>“Cody actually gave me a good segue into this conversation,” she said, “We’ve been dating for years now.”</p><p>“That long?” Fox couldn’t help but be surprised. He calculated back the numbers in his head- huh. They’d been dating for nine years. It hadn’t felt that long.</p><p>Riyo smiled, shyly.</p><p>“And- well- I’d like to keep you. Forever. And for you to keep me too.”</p><p>She reached into her pocket and drew out a pair of rings. Fox’s brain did a hard restart.</p><p>“Fox,” Riyo smiled, still nervous, “Will you marry me?”</p><p>“Yes!” Fox replied, before consciously thinking about it. He stood up suddenly, and picked her up and twirled her around before hugging her as tightly as he dared with his armor still on.</p><p>“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he whispered, “We can marry right now if you want.”</p><p>“Our parents would kill us,” Riyo whispered back.</p><p>Good point. Corsac had started to drop hints about being invited to any major occasions in Fox’s life, and he could only imagine Yma’s reaction if she learned her daughter had gotten married without inviting her.</p><p>“We can marry as soon as our parents get here,” he revised his offer. They’d come if they were told the occasion.</p><p>“I’d like to marry on Dantooine,” Riyo murmured, “With my mother and your brothers and our friends.”</p><p>It sounded nice, when she put it that way.</p><p>“Alright,” he nodded, and gently disengaged from the hug to pick up the ring that had been left on the table in the excitement.</p><p>It was beautiful, in an understated way. They were polished silvery metal that almost looked white under the fluorescent lights of the kitchen, with a pair of small jewels set side by side; both were opaque, one red and one blue. There was another, smaller, ring beside it, gold in color, and with transparent jewels in the same colors.</p><p>They were beautiful. Riyo gently settled the silver one on his hand, and he did the same for her with the gold.</p><p>“When should the wedding be?” He asked, “And what do you want it to be like?”</p><p>His idea of a wedding was mostly the two people involved and a short set of vows, but Pantorans had other traditions. Riyo smiled, and took his hand in hers. Their rings clinked against each other, startling them both, but it was a lovely sound.</p><p>“It’s currently spring on Dantooine, right?” She asked, “Spring weddings are good luck...”</p><p>...</p><p>Obi-wan smiled as Commander Fox ducked into the next room with Senator Chuchi. The two young people were a heartening reminder that there was indeed love in the Galaxy. He made small talk with Quinlan and Cody for a while, teasing Cody for his disgust of politics and Quin for... well, for being Quin. The Kiffar man was about to launch a rebuttal when the kitchen door swung back open and the Senator And Commander returned to the sitting room.</p><p>Vos was immediately distracted when they came back into the room, eyes zeroing in on something that was evidently very important, if the ungodly shriek he made was any indication. He bounded up from his chair and engulfed both Fox and Riyo in an impressive hug.</p><p>“I don’t think Pantorans are supposed to turn that color, Quin,” Obi-wan observed as he watched the Senator turn very slightly green. Quinlan let go, but didn’t stop smiling.</p><p>“Yes, Vos, we’re getting married,” Fox sighed, “People do it all the time, you don’t need to strangle us.”</p><p>“Congratulations, Fox!” Cody smiled, and Obi-wan echoed the sentiment. Fox smiled nervously back at them, and sat with his fiancé and fielded questions and good-natured teasing about their upcoming nuptials. They sat and talked for a while, before Fox looked at the chrono and sat up abruptly.</p><p>“I need to call Buir,” he said, with faint alarm, “Before nightfall on Dantooine. He will never forgive me if I wait a day to tell him I’m engaged.”</p><p>“I need to call Yma!” Senator Chuchi sat up straight with faint alarm on her face. She pecked Fox on the cheek and said a hasty goodbye, presumably back to her apartment.</p><p>Obi-wan thought back to Master Qui-gon, and how his Master had smiled knowingly when he had first met Satine.</p><p>Though he might have his problems with his Master as an adult, it wasn’t all bad. He sometimes found himself wondering what his old Master would have thought of the change in the Code and of Dantooine and the Enclave. He liked to think that Master Qui-gon would have liked it, would have enjoyed the rippling flow of the Living Force over the grassy plains.</p><p>He would have absolutely hated the politics, though. They’d scored a major victory today; in addition to convincing the Senate not to accuse the entire Order of treason, the Jedi would be able to send a representative to the Senate. Not quite a Senator, but a cultural advisor, able to make speeches for or against bills even if they couldn’t propose any.</p><p>They spent the rest of the week on Coruscant hashing out the minute diplomatic details. Obi-wan was in his element, the intricacy of negotiation was something he had been practicing since he was a Padawan. Commander Fox proved to be an invaluable help as well; he had the most interesting comprehension of Republic legal codes.</p><p>They spent most of each day in the Senate Rotunda, and got take-out every night. Senator Chuchi often joined them for dinner, and other Senatorial friends dropped in every once in a while as well, such as Bail.</p><p>It was nice to see the other man, and catch up; he and his wife had adopted a young girl named Winter several years previous, and she was the light of their lives as much as she kept them incredibly busy.</p><p>By the end of the week there was an official declaration; the Jedi Order, including any Clones, was absolved from any allegations of dereliction of duty, and also from any charges relating to unlawful appropriation of military property. Fox had done some math, and pointed out that the ships and supplies taken from Kamino were worth only about three-quarter of the pay the Senate would have owed several million troops in active combat for four years straight. The Senate agreed not to pursue the matter in return for the Jedi not pursuing the rest of the pay.</p><p>It was a hard compromise, but the Council agreed that it was better to have the Venators and Dreadnaughts than a bunch of credits. You can’t live in money, after all.</p><p>They did manage to renegotiate a stipend for the Order, though, with the amount adjusted for a greater number of members, with the proviso that the Jedi would still take requests directly from planetary governments, possibly ones outside the Republic, as well as Senatorial requests. It took a little bit of guilt tripping to make that possible, but they managed.</p><p>Everyone was exhausted when they re-boarded the ship to head back home. Fox had his Guards sweep it for trackers twice before takeoff, and then some fancy flying fromtheir pilot maneuvered them through a plasma stream to kill any the Guardsmen might have missed.</p><p>Obi-wan may or may not have slept through the entire flight home. It was easy, on an aircraft that Anakin wasn’t flying.</p><p>...</p><p>Quinlan was looking forward having a restful couple of days when they returned from Coruscant. Unfortunately, that did not happen.</p><p>They landed in the middle of what looked like a small county fair, to the confusion of everyone on board. Quinlan poked his head out curiously, only to be ambushed by Padmé Amidala, on the democratic warpath, with her daughter in a sling on her back.</p><p>That woman was terrifying.</p><p>“Do your civic duty! Vote!” She ordered more than asked, shoving a pamphlet into his hands and sweeping off like a whirlwind. He couldn’t do more than blink at her.</p><p>Obi-wan wandered down the ramp after him, and hid a smirk in his beard, the karker.</p><p>“Padmé always did hold democracy dear to her heart,” he mused. Fox took the pamphlet from his hands, opened it, and raised his eyebrow.</p><p>“It’s Election Day for our representative,” he clarified for the rest of them, “We’d better go vote.”</p><p>“I’ve never voted before!” Stabby said cheerfully, “Can’t wait!”</p><p>He and Routine and Helo, their pilot, made their way to a small tent city on the edge of the field where the pamphlet said the candidates would be giving speeches. Quinlan followed them bemusedly. It seemed they arrived after the speeches, which disappointed the boys a bit, but they’d been recorded, and it was almost as good to watch the kids debate with each other about who would be the best representative.</p><p>“And don’t forget the possibility of write-in candidates!” He cheerfully added to their discussion. They looked at him blankly.</p><p>“If you don’t think anyone on the list of people you can vote for would do the best job,” he explained, “You can write someone else’s name on the bottom.”</p><p>The kids nodded, and wandered off, presumably to vote. Quin forgot the conversationentirely until the next day, when the voting results came in. He was in the mess hall on the Circle of Steel when it was announced over the intercom with the rest of the morning news.</p><p>“And in a surprising turn of events, Dantooine’s very first election was won by a landslide, not by a nominated candidate, by a write-in candidate! Our new representative is Commander Fox Ehn’eta-Cuir of the Coruscant Guard!”</p><p>Fox spat out his caf. Thire, across from him, shrieked in disgust. Corsac raised his eyebrow as Tate nearly fell of the bench laughing.</p><p>Just another day with the Coruscant Guard.</p><p>“I didn’t agree to this!” Fox gasped, “Why did they even elect me?”</p><p>“You gave a couple of really good speeches at the Senate, vod,” Thorn reminded him.</p><p>“You saw those?” Fox asked, surprised.</p><p>“Yeah, they had the proceedings broadcasted live in most of the rec rooms,” Stone nodded, “You won a lot of hearts with that first speech, Fox.”</p><p>Fox blushed, like he did when Riyo made a joke about how handsome he was, it was endearing. Quinlan hid his snigger. Fox rallied quickly, though.</p><p>“Who will be responsible for the Guard?” He asked, somewhat plaintively.</p><p>“We do have three other Commanders in our legion, you know,” Stone pointed out.</p><p>Fox nodded, slowly, still a little shocked. Quinlan clapped him on the shoulder.</p><p>“Look at it this way!” He suggested, “You’ll see Riyo more often.”</p><p>Fox nodded, working past his shock with keen eyes.</p><p>“You know what, I will,” he said, “And I’ll be able to tell the Senate when they’re being idiots. The thought is tempting.”</p><p>“My kid’s moving up in the world!” Corsac toasted them with his caf mug.</p><p>Not for the first time, it struck Quin that there was no other place he wanted to be than here, restful or not.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Mando’a: 34. <br/>2. Mando’a: sweetheart. </p><p>This is another example of me writing myself into a corner. I had to make it after Piett met the Skywalkers, because he mentioned that no one knew where they went and was surprised at Clones being with them, but before Veers met them, because Luke and Leia are already apprenticed at that point and I have Plans for that.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Jedi: Risen Order</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cal, Fritz, Tapal, and the Commander are assigned to retrieve the list of Force-Sensitive children that Master Cordova hid. <br/>Things that make this easier than in canon: No Empire, more trained Jedi, extra adults with experience keeping up with Jedi. <br/>Things that make this harder: Cal and Fritz are both adventure-loving fourteen year olds (or equivalent, in case of Fritz) with a nose for trouble.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apologies to Respawn Entertainment, whose game I dissected and then Frankensteined back together for my own nefarious purposes. <br/>Many thanks to Redditor u/Empedokles123 for transcribing the game into PDF format, which allowed me to crib lines and modify the plot at my leisure. <br/>Chapter warnings: Nongraphic reanimation of the dead, nongraphic injury of fourteen-year-Old, discussion of child abandonment and genocide.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7659 CRC</p><p>18 BBY</p><p>1 year after the Foundation of the Enclave</p><p> </p><p>The Commander stared at Cal and Fritz, before burying his face in his hands with a sigh. He should never have agreed to let them come to Bogano.</p><p>“He followed us home!” Fritz exclaimed.</p><p>“Can we keep him?” Cal followed up.</p><p>Commander didn’t dare look up at the two of them, knowing that their puppy-akk dog eyes were lethal in combination. He looked down at the small droid in Cal’s arms instead, only to discover it was just as good at the puppy eyes as the other two.</p><p>Despite, you know, not actually having eyes.</p><p>“He’s all alone, he doesn’t have anyone to take care of him!” Fritz tried to wheedle.</p><p>“The Force is telling me he needs to come with us!” Cal attempted.</p><p>The Commander just sighed, and shook his head, still cradled in his hands. Luckily, he was rescued from his situation by Tapal rounding the corner.</p><p>“Cal? Fritz? Where did you get that BD-1 unit?” The Jedi Master asked mildly. The kids launched into an enthusiastically told story about wandering through the forest looking for the holocron vault they were here to find and how BD-1 was obviously lonely and attention-starved and needed a loving home that only they could provide.</p><p>Commander sighed as children and droid had now turned the full intensity of their tools eyes upon Tapal, who was an utter softy and stood no chance.</p><p>“Fine,” The Jedi Master sighed, caving like wet flimsi like everyone knew he would, “Take us to the place you found him.”</p><p>“This is a bad idea,” Commander felt the need to grumble, “If you cave on this, next time it’ll be a mammal that they want to keep.”</p><p>He was ignored. It was his lot in life. He sighed again, and followed the kids, who were already enthusiastically leading them into the undergrowth.</p><p>What followed was a rollicking adventure under hill and dale that Commander was beginning to suspect was simply normal for these kinds of missions. Fritz and Cal looked to be having the time of their lives. He nearly had a heart attack twice. They ended up standing outside a vault that could apparently only be opened by a Force User. Funnily enough, Tapal couldn’t open it. He wondered what would happen next.</p><p>He didn’t expect it to be the droid jumping down from Cal’s shoulder and activating a holoprojector. A recording of a human man stared back at them and began to speak.</p><p>What he had to say made no sense. Tests? Sages? Lost civilizations? Weird Force Osik, the lot of it.</p><p>By the Commander’s reckoning, they were supposed to go to two other places to try to find this list, and learn new and interesting things about the Force. He could understand the secrecy, this holocron was full of the names and locations of baby Jedi, littler than even the Younglings. He just wished that it was both secret and easy to retrieve.</p><p>“Master Cordova,” Tapal murmured after the holomessage finished, “I never thought I would see him again. He died during the war.”</p><p>Commander frowned. Too many Jedi died during the war. He shook his thoughts from that cheery subject and started to discuss their next stop.</p><p>They decided to go to Zeffo next, due to the specific mention of the Zeffo Sages in the little speech Cordova gave. However, they needed to make a stop before Zeffo.</p><p>They made their way to Dantooine, where Tapal instructed them to land some distance from the Albedo Brave. They complied, wandering across the strip of land that had been designated for a spaceport, until they came across a... a yacht, well kept, but not luxuriously painted like the ones diplomats used. A human woman and a Latero man walked down the ramp toward them.</p><p>“Master Junda,” Master Tapal bowed politely, “This is my Commander, the Commander, my Padawan Cal, And Cadet-Captain Fritz.”</p><p>The woman bowed back.</p><p>“Greetings,” she replied, “My name is Master Cere Junda, and this is my pilot Greez Dritus. We normally take diplomatic missions on the far outer rim, so forgive my confusion when you requested our assistance on a mission?”</p><p>Tapal sighed, and gently tapped BD-1 on the visor. The droid tweedled, and Junda startled in surprise.</p><p>“BD-1, is that you? I thought you were lost with my Master!” She knelt, and the droid scurried over to her for a visor pat.</p><p>“Can you show her the recording?” Commander asked, gently. The little droid obliged, and the speech didn’t make much more sense the second time.</p><p>“We were hoping you might be available to help us with this mission,” Master Tapal, “As you knew Master Cordova better than anyone.”</p><p>Junda exchanged a glance with her pilot and nodded.</p><p>“I’ll comm Trilla, and let her know to conduct the negotiations without us,” Master Junda told them, and walked evenly up the ramp.</p><p>“You’d better get aboard,” The pilot grumped, “I don’t trust any of your craft like I trust the Mantis.”</p><p>This would be interesting. Commander sighed again.</p><p>...</p><p>Jaro Tapal had a quiet conversation with Cere as the ship lifted off.</p><p>“You have a family, now,” she murmured, watching the boys pester Commander and Commander trying desperately not to show how endearing he found it. From the cockpit, Mr. Dritus gave the occasional chuckle, which really only encouraged Cal and Fritz.</p><p>“Some good things came out of the war,” Jaro murmured back. He’d been close with Cere, once, they were agemates at the Temple. The war had torn them apart, and they were only just finding their way back to each other. He decided to change tacks.</p><p>“How are you,” He asked, trying to be gentle, “With this mission, and your Master?”</p><p>“I miss him,” Cere shrugged, “And I wish he weren’t dead, but this doesn’t hurt anymore than a regular day. It’s just so very like him to leave us a scavenger hunt with weird history facts and riddles we have to solve to get the prize.”</p><p>“Didn’t he do that when we were little? That one Force Mythology class that you almost failed, until he sent us on through the archives and memorial halls and everywhere else in the Temple, and he was waiting for us with cake at the end?” Jaro reminisced. Cere smiled, with much the same tone.</p><p>“He was an odd turtle-duck,” she said wistfully, “But he was my odd turtle-duck, and it’s kind of comforting to know he was the same to the very end.”</p><p>“Unfortunately, I don’t think there will be cake this time,” Jaro sighed.</p><p>“Fortunately, this quest should also annoy Master Nu significantly less,” Cere pointed out.</p><p>She had not been pleased about the two mischievous Padawans running around the archives for a full day. Jaro suppressed a smile. Even all these years later, she still looked at him like she expected him to throw the entire section on Force Kinetics and Transubstantiation into disarray to find the next clue.</p><p>“Landing in five!” Dritus called back. Cal and Fritz stopped trying to climb the Commander like their personal jungle gym and settled into chairs at the galley table. They were good kids.</p><p>The ship exited hyperspace, and Dritus called back again.</p><p>“Uh... you’re gonna want to see this!”</p><p>Jaro and Cere exchanged a glance, and then made their way to the bridge, bracing themselves agains the bumps and turbulence that had suddenly developed.</p><p>“Heck of a storm brewing down there,” the pilot pointed out, “This might not be the best time to land.”</p><p>There was a hurricane-level storm over the planet, as the pilot said. Cere, after glancing at the storm, checked the comm station.</p><p>“Something strange,” she said, “Those winds are interfering with our comms.”</p><p>Jaro shook his head, still staring at the planet’s surface.</p><p>“Cordova did mention something about peace in the eye of the storm,” he countered, “I can just make out a settlement in the middle of it.”</p><p>“Then we have to get there,” Cere said.</p><p>“Copy that,” their pilot replied, somewhat annoyed, “Buckle up, kids!”</p><p>After a somewhat bumpy landing, they were on the planets surface. Dritus elected to stay with the ship, but the rest of them set out to find the next message from Master Cordova.</p><p>They wandered up a path, facing minimal trouble from some local scavengers, and found a small village. The locals were reserved but helpful, pointing them to the ruins they were searching for. They way was arduous- there were multiple caves and also multiple glaciers. Cal and Fritz particularly liked those. Commander did not.</p><p>Finally, though, they came before a massive stone structure surrounded by a storm despite being within a cave. After bracing themselves for the wind, they ran through the storm to the structure, and found themselves in a round stone room with an enormous bronze ball or globe in the center.</p><p>It was a fascinating object, the globe; most of it was solid, and unadorned, but though subtle gaps at the poles you could see moving mechanisms inside, and around the equator were etched shimmering runes.</p><p>Jaro was almost too interested in the sphere to hear the subtle click and rumbling, but he definitely felt when the entire room began to drift downwards. He looked over at Cal, who pointed at Fritz. The Cadet stood sheepishly on a large stone circle with red lines glowing on it.</p><p>“Oops.”</p><p>...</p><p>Fritz was glad when the recording of the Jedi Master began to talk again. At least it stopped the Commander from giving him the ‘I’m disappointed’ face.</p><p>“My Friend, I believe this to be the earliest Zeffo site we’ve uncovered yet. Despite my reservations, I cannot chase the Bogano Vault from my mind. Its visions shaped the direction of an entire culture. I must understand why,” the holographic master proclaimed.</p><p>He seemed like an odd dude, but cool enough. Fritz liked the scavenger hunt he’d set up. And he distracted the Commander, so that was a plus.</p><p>It seemed like forever, but was less than a minute, when the huge stone elevator settled on the floor with a huge grating noise.</p><p>The tomb was even bigger than it looked from the top, with more of the huge gold spheres and the weird wind coming from nowhere. Cal looked closely at one of the spheres, laughed, and moved his hand like he did when he was calling the Force. A doorway opened, even as the main hallway behind the sphere closed.</p><p>“Can we explore, Master?” Cal asked his Master, and Fritz made sure to back him up with the tooka eyes. Master and Commander looked at each other, and then Master sighed and shooed them off.</p><p>BD-1 beeped in excitement as they started playing with the wind tunnels and golden spheres, opening and closing new passages that they could explore. Fritz felt the eyes of the Commander on them nearly all the time, and the small prodding sensation that meant that Master was keeping tabs on them in the Force.</p><p>“Better than probe droids,” he heard the Commander grunt, after Cal had opened a particularly tricky hidden passage. That was hurtful!</p><p>Their explorations were going well until the opened a door to find- well, it looked like a droid, but not any kind of droid Fritz had ever seen. It was golden, and twice as tall as Commander was, with a glowing sphere in the center.</p><p>It didn’t look really friendly. Fritz’s suspicions were confirmed when it sent a huge concussive blast at Cal, though luckily his friend ducked in time. BD-1 beeped in alarm, and scrambled onto Cal’s shoulders. They started running back to the main chamber, only to meet Master and Commander on the way.</p><p>They looked perturbed. Fritz decided to let them deal with the unfriendly murderbot, so he grabbed Cal and hid behind a rock while Master started swiping at the droid with a lightsaber while Commander kept up an endless volley of fire. Eventually, the thing fell to the ground, and their guardians lowered their weapons warily.</p><p>Master and Commander were awesome.</p><p>Fritz’s attention was drawn quickly from contemplating the coolness of his guardians to a crack just behind the downed guardian. Master must have seen it too, because he raised his hand, and the wall started disassembling delicately to reveal another chamber.</p><p>Master Cordova popped up again. That guy had the weirdest timing.</p><p>“My Friend, take a look at the detail on this bark! The distinctive striations. It can only be a worshyr tree from Kashyyyk. It’s time to call on an old friend. If the Zeffo had contact with Kashyyyk, there is a good chance Chieftain Tarfful will know about it,” he informed them.</p><p>“Kashyyyk, hmm?” Master Junda, who had joined them just after the robot was defeated, commented.</p><p>They were all startled by a second killer robot- but not for long. Master Tapal and Master Junda gave it a huge force push and finished it off with their lightsabers.</p><p>Fritz loved his life.</p><p>...</p><p>The trip to Kashyyyk was uneventful. They landed without fanfare next to a Wookiee village, and Master Tapal led them to a central hut. Master Junda elected to stay on the ship.</p><p>“My newly Knighted Padawan is conducting some sensitive negotiations,” she told them, “I need to be available.”</p><p>“Hello!” He greeted a Wookiee woman outside, “Can you please direct us to Chief Tarfful?”</p><p>Cal’s Shrywook wasn’t stellar, but he was pretty sure that the woman agreed. She gestured for them to follow her, and the ventured deep into the forest, up to a series of interconnected treehouses where very important-looking Wookiees were talking to each other.</p><p>“Chief Tarfful,” Master nodded respectfully, “We are here on a mission begun by the late Master Cordova, relating to the Zeffo culture and an artifact we believe he hid in an ancient vault of that culture.”</p><p>The Chief nodded, and rumbled that he had guided Cordova through several ruins the last time he had visited Kashyyyk, and that he was most interested in the Origin Tree.</p><p>“Would you be able to give us directions to the Origin Tree?” Master asked politely. The Chief conversed with his Council, and then turned to them and roared that he needed a break anyway.</p><p>Cal liked Kashyyyk. Not only did they have excellent taste in treehouses and cool scenery, the people were friendly and didn’t try to shoot at you. And Chief Tarfful was nice, and gave them some interesting facts about the planet interspersed with jokes of varying quality on their way to the site.</p><p>They didn’t always translate well, though.</p><p>“It’s like a frost-tree deciding to walk the seas, so that it can feel the wind more sharply!” Cal attempted to translate a particularly funny joke for the benefit of Commander, whose knowledge of Shrywook only really extended to ‘Where is the ‘fresher?,’ ‘I cannot eat that,’ and ‘You will be rewarded if you lead me to the nearest Republic Base.’</p><p>Commander looked back at him, impassive. Fritz was still out of breath from the joke next to him.</p><p>“It gets lost in translation, I think,” Cal murmured sheepishly. Commander nodded, and ruffled his hair, and returned to looking at the flora and fauna around them.</p><p>The Origin Tree left Cal without words. It’s roots gnarled the ground, rising higher than some mountains Cal had seen, and above them rose a canopy bigger than the Jedi Temple. Mists shrouded it’s base, and the calls of animals could be heard overhead. It had a kind of mystic otherness about it, not unlike the Temple had, but very different at the same time. More... earthy, Cal thought.</p><p>They stopped at a platform suspended above a pool of dark water. Chief Tarfful told them that they needed to swim for a distance to reach the center of the tree. Cal nodded, and took out his rebreather, along with the rest of his family.</p><p>“And these are brand new blacks,” Commander sighed, but he jumped right into the water with the rest of them.</p><p>The water was dark, and full of life, from algae to minnows to crustaceans and the roots of the lesser trees that made their home on the slopes of the Origin Tree. Cal could feel brushes of bigger creatures on the edge of his consciousness, slow and deadly, but they were far away and didn’t seem interested in them.</p><p>Small blessings. Cal did not want to get eaten on this mission.</p><p>They came up for air and climbed a natural wall to reveal a huge vista, shrouded in mist like the outside of the tree had been. Cal could make out treehouses and other structures high up in the branches of the Origin Tree and on the roof walls.</p><p>Seriously. The Wookiees’ treehouses rocked.</p><p>...</p><p>Commander enjoyed Kashyyyk. The scenery was nice, and the animals hadn’t tried to eat him yet. The forest was a nice break from the monotony of the plains on Dantooine, and some flowers were blooming near the path they were currently traveling.</p><p>He was startled by the sound of a huge bird above them, but the Chieftain didn’t falter in his pace, so he decided not to be worried. At first glance, it was pretty ugly, but there was something majestic about it that kind of matched the feel of the entire place.</p><p>He startled again when a flickering hologram appeared in front of him, projected by the droid riding on Fritz’s back. At this rate, he’d have his fourth heart attack of the mission, the first two being on the surface of Bogano and the third happening when Cal and Fritz had turned on the Tomb Guardian.</p><p>“My Friend, as Tarfful led us here he spoke of a glorious creature called the Shyyyo Bird. He said the bird is the forest’s protector. So rare it’s nearly legendary. I would dearly love to research this creature further, but the Astrium must be my priority. I hope to one day return and search for the Shyyyo bird with Tarfful,” the master proclaimed. The Chieftain wailed mournfully, and bowed his head for a moment. They all did the same.</p><p>Not for the first time, or even the hundredth, Commander cursed the war.</p><p>“The astrium?” Cal asked, tilting his head in confusion. The Chieftain warbled back, and Fritz whispered under his breath to Commander.</p><p>“He says that Master Cordova was talking about it like a key, or maybe a lock. Something to help you understand the way that the Zeffo thought about the Force.”</p><p>Cal was a good kid, so Commander nodded. That did not mean he really understood it. This entire fiasco was way above his pay grade.</p><p>As they reached the summit, they were swooped a couple more times by the Shyyyo bird. It seemed interested in them, even landing some distance away and watching at once point.</p><p>The holo triggered again, this time from above his head. The kids had been getting tired, so he took a turn with the droid, which insisted on riding on top of his helmet.</p><p>Maybe it liked to be tall?</p><p>“My Friend,” Cordova proclaimed, “Never have I seen a view more exquisite than atop this tree. This climb has given me time to reflect. It was the will of the Force that I found Bogano, and that I am here now. There is a greater journey ahead.”</p><p>For someone who talked so much, that man sure didn’t get around to saying a lot.</p><p>They rounded a trunk and found the Shyyyo bird watching them again. It hopped over to Cal and Fritz, leaned forward, and spread its wings invitingly.</p><p>The Chief warbled in wonder, and gestured to the two boys. They nodded eagerly, and got on the bird, which took off faster than Commander could stop this mess.</p><p>And there was heart attack four, right on time.</p><p>“They’re safe, Commander,” Tapal reassured him, “The Shyyyo bird doesn’t hunt Wookiees, or any other known sentients, and they can carry full-grown banthas.”</p><p>Commander worried anyway.</p><p>After what felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, the bird wheeled gently back down from the height, and Cal and Fritz tumbled off, talking excitedly over each other.</p><p>“So cool-“</p><p>“You could see forever!”</p><p>“The leaves and-“</p><p>“The best part was-“</p><p>Tapal held up his hand for silence, and the boys duly quieted.</p><p>“Did you receive any new information?” Asked Tapal, gently. Cal nodded.</p><p>“Yeah! He mentioned there’s an Astrium inside the Tomb of a guy named Kujet!” He replied. Tapal nodded, contemplatively.</p><p>“Did he mention where the tomb was?” He asked.</p><p>“Dathomir!” Fritz replied. Commander had heart attack number five.</p><p>Dathomir? Home of Assaj Karking Ventress and who knew how many evil kriffers like her? Origin planet of Darth Maul and the other two Oppress Brothers? Where Jedi fear to tread?</p><p>At this rate he would have an actual, real, medical heart attack, and then where would he be? Laid up in bed while his Jedi went into danger without him, to karking Dathomir!</p><p>He grabbed both Cal and Fritz by the scruff-bars and resolved not to let them out of his sight.</p><p>...</p><p>Jaro could see that the Commander was not best pleased. He was twitching under his helmet. And he’d grabbed the boys, who didn’t seem too put out at the development so far. In fact, BD-1 had taken the opportunity to use him as a convenient bridge from Cal to Fritz, nudging his helmet affectionately on the way.</p><p>Chieftain Tarfful whuffed in amusement. It is good to see such a protective guardian, he growled, your children seem to be capable of much mischief.</p><p>He was treated to wounded stares from both of the children in question, and also from BD-1, after the little droid realized what was happening.</p><p>“You are truly a discerning and insightful man, Chieftain,” he replied, earning a transfer of the wounded looks onto him. Commander chuckled into his bucket, but kept his grip on the kids firm until they reached the pool again and needed to swim out.</p><p>Cere was waiting for them at the door of the ship, watching Dritus haggle with someone over a commlink.</p><p>“We may need to avoid Haxian Space, wherever we go next,” she reported amusedly.</p><p>“Yes, we normally take our fourteen-year-old Padawans into areas where they may be forced into gladiatorial arenas,” Commander snarked back, reaching out for Fritz and Cal again. They looked at each other mischievously, towed the Commander up the ramp, and disappeared inside the ship.</p><p>“They keep me on my toes,” Jaro confided to Cere. She raised her eyebrow.</p><p>“Oh do they?” She replied archly. Jaro nodded, with a somewhat mischievous smile himself.</p><p>“Oh yes, all three of them,” he sauntered up the ramp. She snorted as she followed him. Dritus finished his call and followed.</p><p>“Where to?” He asked, heading to the bridge.</p><p>“Dathomir,” Jaro replied. Dritus looked at him uncertainly, but complied.</p><p>“Dathomir?” Cere raised her eyebrow.</p><p>“That’s where we need to go,” Jaro shrugged, “According to Master Cordova. I can try to find the droid so you can see the holo?”</p><p>“Later,” Cere shook her head, and gestured to the lounge. Jaro followed her gaze and smiled.</p><p>There was a padded booth surrounding a table in the corner, and that was where Cal and Fritz had decided to set up camp. They were both fast asleep, or at least faking it very well, leaned against the cushions. Sandwiched between them was the Commander, looking a little awkward, with a powered-down BD-1 in his arms.</p><p>Jaro caught his eye and shrugged. There was simply no way out of that situation. The Commander gave him a flat look in return, and evidently decided to take the advice of the old maxim, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’ He was asleep within another minute.</p><p>Jaro turned back to Cere, only to see her suppressing a smile. It was a rather cute sight; he took a holo on his comm and sent it to the Albedo Brave’s bridge. He knew about the Cute Padawan-Commander Holo collection, even added to it occasionally. Though Commander might be a bit perturbed to be part of one.</p><p>Jaro and Cere, reluctant to wake the sleepers up, gravitated toward the bridge and settled in there.</p><p>...</p><p>Cere settled herself at the Comms station, giving Jaro the copilot’s seat. It had more legroom. After thoroughly admonishing them not to even touch the controls, Greez settled in as well.</p><p>“Why Dathomir?” He asked, “That place has a bad reputation, even among us regular people. Bloodthirsty tribes, hungry beasts, ruins, it’s checked nearly every box on the ‘do not visit’ list except non-breathable atmosphere.”</p><p>Cere shrugged, minutely.</p><p>“My Master left a clue there,” she said calmly, “So there we must go.”</p><p>Greez looked at her perceptively. He’d been around her and Trilla enough to know how close the Master-Padawan relationship was.</p><p>“Why was he the one hiding this important boxy thing, anyway?” Greez asked, “He was a researcher, from what you mentioned, a historian and archeologist. What was he doing with classified material?”</p><p>Cere sighed.</p><p>“My Master had troubling visions,” she said, “Of a mass extinction of the Jedi Order. He convinced a friend of his, the Chief Archivist, to make a copy of the list of Force-Sensitive Children, every one known in the galaxy. This is the next generation of the Jedi Order, and very secret due to the vulnerable nature of the children on the list. It was a failsafe, in case the very worst happened.</p><p>“It wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this; Master was exceedingly good at hiding things, so he had been entrusted with creating safe houses for the war effort and smuggling documents before. This was just an extension- his greatest puzzle.”</p><p>“It’s that hard to solve?” Asked Greez.</p><p>“It is difficult, but it is more than just solving a puzzle,” Cere explained, “He’s having us trek to remote locations, testing our fitness and ability to adapt to different situations. He’s tied this in to something that requires Force-Sensitivity to access. He’s used his connections to vet our character; in this case, Chieftain Tarfful. He’s whittling it down until no one but a Jedi can get this information.”</p><p>“Smart guy,” nodded Greez, “But he doesn’t sound like he was the most experienced with war.”</p><p>“By the middle of the war, the Jedi were struggling to field enough operatives to meet Senate requirements,” Cere said cooly, “There are thousands of thousands of planets in the Republic, and only a few thousand Jedi. The Senate did not see results; they wanted results. Individual Senators wanted to know why their planets were being menaced; we were struggling to keep the next system from being completely overrun. So they leaned on us to send out more Jedi, initiating arbitrary percentages of active Jedi at any given time. Elders came out of retirement. Padawans were Knighted far too early so their Master could take another student.”</p><p>She didn’t like those days. If the war had gone on longer, she probably would have had to Knight her Trilla at seventeen to take another Padawan.</p><p>“Master Cordova was a scholar who volunteered for active duty,” she sighed, “And it killed him in the end.”</p><p>Greez nodded, slowly.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said. He probably wasn’t expecting an answer quite like that.</p><p>“It is not your fault,” Cere said, wistful.</p><p>“No,” Greez said, “But I don’t think anyone’s apologized for the Senate yet.”</p><p>“He who waits for an apology from the Senate has a lot of waiting to do,” Jaro said dryly.</p><p>...</p><p>It was a longer flight to Dathomir. They were eating when the proximity alarm chimed, and Mr. Dritus got up to check the readouts. BD-1 hopped up on the table next to his plate and scanned it curiously. Mr. Dritus poked his head back into the room.</p><p>“Dathomir in five- hey, get your lasers off my lunch!” He scolded. BD-1 retreated back to Cal, who pet the droid’s visor unit gently. Mr. Dritus had no call to be so strict. It’s not like scanners changed the way food tasted.</p><p>Fritz stuffed a truly disturbing amount of food in his mouth and ran to the bridge to watch them make planetfall. He wasn’t used to space flight like Cal was; Fritz hadn’t been off Kamino before Dantooine, while Cal had been on campaign for six months.</p><p>The landing was without event- the best kind of landing, all the pilots on the Albedo Brave would always tell Cal- Greez came back to open the boarding ramps.</p><p>“Better only open the one,” he said, “Weird things live here.”</p><p>The ramp hissed down, and all Cal could see was red.</p><p>It went on forever, both the earth and the sky painted with blood and rust and cinnabar. Dust swept the ground, driven by the occasional wind. The sky was open and cloudless, smooth like a lake of molten fire. Even the ruins in the distance were red, though wasn’t wasn’t overly surprising as they were carved out of the scarlet rock.</p><p>What struck Cal, though, even more than the red, was the Force. Kashyyyk had felt ancient and earthy, while Dantooine felt mostly like the wind; ever-changing but mostly joyful. This place, if Cal had to pick a few words to describe it, was wrong on a visceral level.</p><p>“I should go with you, this time,” Master Cere said evenly. Master Tapal nodded in agreement.</p><p>“If no one else is staying with me, I’m going to go to low orbit to wait for you to come back,” Mr. Dritus said, “This is no planet for anyone to be alone.”</p><p>Commander nodded, and double checked the charge on his blaster.</p><p>“You two don’t leave my sight,” he told Cal and Fritz. For once, Cal didn’t feel like arguing that particular order. He exchanged a look with Fritz and stepped a bit closer to Commander.</p><p>They trekked to the ruins, quieter than their trip to Kashyyyk had been. There was little wildlife there, and none of it was foolish enough to make noise. Even BD-1 seemed to sense the wrongness in the air, huddling close to Cal’s head and trying to tuck under his chin.</p><p>“It’s okay, buddy,” he tried to comfort the little droid, but BD-1 still seemed nervous. So did the rest of them, so he had to give the thing credit.</p><p>The ruins didn’t look like the Zeffo tombs at all, square where the Zeffo buildings were rounded, with odd ornamentation carved from the rock while the Zeffo preferred a smoother finish. They started to trek up the mountain, while the shadows seemed to watch them.</p><p>There were voices, too, mostly female, echoing in the shadows.</p><p>“Nightsisters?” Fritz whispered. Master put his hand on Fritz’s shoulder and shook his head.</p><p>“Memories of them,” he explained, “The Nightsisters were decimated by the Separatists toward the end of the war, as revenge for Ventress and Nightmother Talzin going rogue. The survivors retreated back to their lair to rebuild, which is several hundred clicks from here.There shouldn’t be anyone here.”</p><p>Of course, just to prove Master wrong, a slightly more distinct voice began chanting in the distance.</p><p>“Right,” Commander said, “Switching to infrared vision.”</p><p>They continued up the stairs, with flashes of green smoke appearing in the corner of their eyes. At the top of the stairs, a pair of midsize carnivorous creatures charged them, eyes glowing green.</p><p>“Sleep,” Master Tapal commanded, stepping in front of Cal and Fritz. The creatures slowed, but took a couple more steps before Commander shot them and they toppled over.</p><p>“There’s obviously someone here,” Cal observed, with a slight shake in his voice. Fritz walked closer to him, and the Commander was just behind him.</p><p>“Go away!” The more distinct voice from earlier cried, “Leave this place!”</p><p>Plumes of green smoke erupted around them, but no more creatures appeared. Master and Master Cere exchanged an unreadable look.</p><p>They reached the top of the stairs to find a seemingly empty terrace. Master and Commander and Master Cere were all scanning for threats, but Cal saw something out of corner of his eye. It looked like a scrap of fabric; he leaned down to pick it up.</p><p>Then the world turned into a blur and shouting.</p><p>...</p><p>Fritz sat up. He’d been pushed down the stairs with Cal, and both of them had hit their heads. His helmet had protected him, but Cal wasn’t wearing one.</p><p>He was bleeding.</p><p>“Cal?” He asked, trying to get a response. Cal stared at him sluggishly and tried to get up.</p><p>“No, no!” He tried to keep Cal down.</p><p>“Cal? Cal!” Commander ran toward them, panic in his voice. Master Tapal was standing at the top of the stairs, keeping the cloaked figure from pursuing them.</p><p>Commander reached them, and knelt immediately. He quickly checked Cal for a spinal injury, and then took him into his arms.</p><p>“Cal, wake up!” He said urgently, even as he ran down the stairs, “Dritus, medivac!”</p><p>Fritz was about to follow him when he heard an urgent beeping. He looked over at BD-1, expecting an upset droid, but as soon as he turned to face he little robot, something flew at him. He caught it on reflex, and inspected it curiously.</p><p>“A... healing stim? Commander, wait!” He ran after his guardian.</p><p>Healing stems were second only to bacta sprays for battlefield medicine. They were especially good for head wounds- a soldier who cannot think cannot fight after all. Commander slowed just slightly, enough for Fritz to jab the stim into Cal’s arm.</p><p>Cal’s entire body jerked, but his pupils rapidly evened out. He took a deep breath, and then shot up, almost causing the Commander to drop him.</p><p>“Cancel that medivac, Dritus,” Commander muttered, “We have healing stims, and a hostile.”</p><p>“Don’t hurt her!” Cal called, “She’s scared!”</p><p>He wrestled himself out of the Commander’s arms, and ran back up the stairs toward the terrace. As they got closer, the Nightsister’s voice became clearer.</p><p>“Give it back!” She screamed, “Give it back and go away!”</p><p>Cal ran past Master and Master Junda, dodging Master’s grabbing arm. He skidded to a stop in front of the Nightsister, and held something out in his ungloved hand.</p><p>Fritz sighed, and dug out the spare pair of gloves he kept in his belt. Cal was always losing his.</p><p>“Cal! Back up!” Master called, worry in his voice. Cal shook his head, focused on the Nightsister in front of him.</p><p>“Here you go,” he said, “I’m sorry I took it, we didn’t mean to scare you.”</p><p>Fritz focused a little more on the object as the Sister grabbed it. It was cloth, with stubby arms and legs and a cloak- it was a doll. A Nightsister doll.</p><p>“Fear is the source of my power,” the figure tried to bluster. When Cal stepped closer, however, she stepped back.</p><p>She was shorter than she’d looked initially, only a little taller than Cal.</p><p>“Here,” Cal tried, indicating the doll again, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what it was.”</p><p>The Sister stepped forward quickly, yanked the doll out of Cal’s hand, and retreated equally quickly, clutching it. However, due to her hasty movement, her hood fell back, revealing her face.</p><p>...</p><p>Cere’s heart clenched. The Nightsister couldn’t have been more than fourteen- and she looked scared out of her mind.</p><p>“Child, we won’t harm you,” she called, “We didn’t mean to alarm, we simply need to visit the Tomb of Kujet, and then we will be gone and trouble you and yours no more.”</p><p>Cal stepped back slowly until he was back with the group, and was almost suffocated by the Commander pulling him into a bear hug. He still managed to add one more thing.</p><p>“There’s no one else here,” he said, “She’s alone.”</p><p>“Is this true, young one?” Jaro asked the Nightsister, who was watching them warily from the other side of the plaza.</p><p>“I have my sisters with me,” she raised her chin, “And we will not let you closer.”</p><p>“Where are your sisters?” Cere tried. She didn’t feel anyone else in the ruins, but maybe they were away.</p><p>“They’re right here!” cried the Nightsister, “Come, Sisters, help me defend our home!”</p><p>A couple of the cocoon-like pods that littered the complex began to shake as her eyes glowed the same sickly green as the mist that had followed them earlier. Cere had an awful suspicion.</p><p>“Child,” She said, “Your sisters have passed into the Force, they are gone. What remains are no longer your sisters, simply empty husks.”</p><p>“They are here!” The girl shrieked, as her nose began to bleed. She was drawing on the Force too deeply for her skill level. She must be terrified.</p><p>“What’s she doing?” Commander asked.</p><p>“I believe she is trying to reanimate one of her departed sisters,” Jaro muttered. Commander froze.</p><p>“That’s possible?” He sounded horrified.</p><p>“Let’s just say there is a reason that Jedi traditionally burn their dead,” Jaro replied, ushering Cal and Fritz behind him.</p><p>The pod closest to the girl opened, and what was once a Nightsister shuffled out.</p><p>“Defend me, Sister!” The girl cried, still with a heavy nosebleed. Cere could stand this no longer.</p><p>“Sleep!” She commanded, and the girl’s overtaxed mind obeyed her. She fell over, and the corpse did as well.</p><p>“Go search the tomb,” she told Jaro, “I will stay with her.”</p><p>Jaro nodded, and exchanged a look with Commander.</p><p>“Why don’t we leave Cal and Fritz with you,” he suggested, “I don’t imagine the tomb will be a good place for Padawans.”</p><p>Cere nodded, and watched as Commander invited BD-1 onto his shoulder and walked with Jaro into the darkness. She used the Force to gently put the Nightsister’s body back into her burial cocoon. Then she turned to the girl crumpled on the floor, and gently settled her into a more natural position and wiped the blood off her face, and returned the doll which had been dropped in the commotion to her.</p><p>“Keep watch,” she told the boys, and they nodded and obediently stood at the top of the stairs, looking down the outcropping and over the red plain.</p><p>The girl stirred before long, though she didn’t move as soon as she woke up. She laid still for a while, trying to parse her surroundings, clutching her doll minutely.</p><p>“We won’t hurt you, young one,” Cere told her. She stiffened, caught out, but opened here eyes and glared.</p><p>“Then why are you here?” She hissed, “The last time outsides came from the skies, all my sisters were murdered.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Cere murmured to her, “They should not have been killed. My friends and I seek only an artifact from the tomb; we require it to access some very important information. If you wish, we will return it when we are finished with it.”</p><p>“I do not guard the tomb,” The girl said wearily, “But the home of my sisters. Take what you will.”</p><p>“Is there anyone else? Anyone at all?” Cere asked, hoping against hope.</p><p>“No,” murmured the girl, “I am the last.”</p><p>Cere closed her eyes and sighed. She opened them to refocus on the girl, and almost missed her looking wistfully at the other side of the terrace. She followed her gaze and smiled at the sight of Cal holding Fritz in a headlock, both laughing.</p><p>Cal had said she was lonely.</p><p>“What is your name, young one?” She asked.</p><p>“I am Merrin,” the girl replied.</p><p>“Would you like to come with us, young one?” She offered, gently. The girl shook her head, but her eyes were conflicted.</p><p>“I have to avenge my sisters,” she insisted. Cere thought for a moment.</p><p>“Describe to me the one who killed them,” she said, “If you can. I may be able to help find him.”</p><p>If her suspicion was right, Merrin’s sisters were already avenged, though st the hand of someone who did not know it.</p><p>“Tall, and metal,” Merrin said, with a wobble in her voice, “A wraith with four arms and no mercy.”</p><p>“His name was Grievous,” Cere soothed her, “And he is already dead, killed for his crimes against others as well as against your people.”</p><p>“He is dead?” Merrin repeated, faintly.</p><p>“One of my fellow Jedi tracked him down and killed him,” Cere told her, “He died running, like a coward.”</p><p>“Your people killed the murderer?” Merrin asked, and looked at Cere speculatively.</p><p>“I will go with you,” the girl decided, “And learn your ways, so that I will never be subject to such a monster again.”</p><p>Cere nodded. This could go either very well or very badly, there was no telling which.</p><p>...</p><p>Commander did not like Dathomir, not a whit. He didn’t like the environment, he didn’t like the inhabitants, and he certainly didn’t like the creepy old tombs. Luckily, Jaro seemed to find the weird glowing ball fairly easily, and they started on their way back to the surface with little difficulty other than the constant feeling of being watched. Even Cordova seemed put out, in the holo, rambling about the Dark Side.</p><p>Commander carefully kept the corner of his brain that felt the push and pull of the Jedi’s Force use boxed up and tucked away. It would be no help on this mission.</p><p>As they trudged out of the tunnel, and as Commander attempted to dissuade BD-1 from trying to climb into his helmet with him, Jaro stared at the artifact with a thoughtful expression on his face.</p><p>“I wouldn’t say this is the time for contemplation of a mysterious doohickey, Tapal,” Commander grumbled as he grabbed BD-1 by the chassis and held him away from his body.</p><p>“There’s only room for one in the bucket, bud,” he told it with a sigh. BD-1 beeped morosely. Jaro stifled a snigger.</p><p>They exited the cave soon after, and cams upon Master Junda supervising the Padawans and the girl, who were mostly standing five feet away from each other and staring curiously.</p><p>“This is Merrin,” Junda introduced them when they got close enough, “Merrin, this is Master Jaro Tapal And Commander, well, Commander, they’re Cal and Fritz’s guardians.”</p><p>“Your name is Commander?” Merrin tilted her head. Commander sighed and shrugged.</p><p>“It was funnier before I got promoted,” he said, a little mulishly, “I used to be Captain Commander, all my brothers found it hilarious.”</p><p>Fritz and Cal giggled. Merrin smiled hesitantly, still looking at everyone around her in a mixture of wariness and bemusement.</p><p>“We’d better get back to our ship,” Junda redirected the conversation, “Do you have everything, Merrin?”</p><p>The girl nodded, and held up a blanket roll. Commander blinked. They were taking her with them? He looked around at the ruins, and shrugged. Well, they couldn’t exactly leave her here alone.</p><p>A thought occurred to him.</p><p>“I told you so,” he told Tapal. Tapal looked at him confusedly, and he gestured to Merrin.</p><p>“I told you the next one the kids brought home would be a mammal,” he said.</p><p>“It was Master Cere’s idea!” Cal objected.</p><p>“And I’m willing to bet you would have suggested it if she hadn’t,” Commander replied, “But it’s good you’re coming with us, Merrin.”</p><p>He wondered how Greez would react. That actually reminded him of something.</p><p>“Hey kid,” he drifted back to walk beside her as they trampled down the stairs, “No reanimation of the dead from now on, please?”</p><p>Merrin looked at him slowly and nodded, clutching her blanked roll.</p><p>“Thanks!” Commander nodded back, and caught back up to Tapal, who looked at him with wry amusement.</p><p>“What?” He defended, “She may not know that we find it disturbing.”</p><p>Tapal nodded affably, and they had a fairly quiet trip back to the ship’s landing point.</p><p>...</p><p>Jaro was the first on the ship when it landed, nodding a hello to Dritus with the children right behind him. Dritus blinked at Merrin.</p><p>“I may not be the best at telling human kids apart, but I could have sworn there were only two of them when you left,” he said uncertainly. Fritz snickered.</p><p>“This is Merrin,” Jaro introduced the girl, “She was alone when we found her.”</p><p>“I thought the adoption thing was a myth,” Dritus muttered, “Wait- she’s a witch?”</p><p>“Your fear is unnecessary,” Merrin said formally, “I do not wish to harm anyone aboard this vessel.”</p><p>Dritus looked a bit uncertain, but Cere gave him a nod, so he shrugged and went take off. Commander dragged Cal back to the infirmary for a checkup, and Fritz settled with Merrin at the table, Cere and Jaro keeping an eye on them. BD-1, who had been banished from the medbay, trotted up and hopped on the table in front of Merrin, beeping happily.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Merrin said, uncertain, “I don’t understand you.”</p><p>The little droid dropped in sadness</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Fritz reassured them both, “I can translate!”</p><p>This could only end well. Luckily, the fiasco was interrupted by Dritus coming back from the cockpit and Cal fleeing the infirmary with the Commander sauntering at his heels.</p><p>“Where are we headed next?” Dritus asked, standing at the doorway.</p><p>“Bogano,” Cere replied, “We finally have the key to the vault there.”</p><p>Dritus nodded, but didn’t return to the bridge immediately.</p><p>“This Cordova guy is really putting some wear and tear on my ship,” he said.</p><p>Cere smiled sadly.</p><p>“He always wanted us to explore the whole galaxy,” she told him. Cal looked up from where he was showing Merrin how to pet BD-1.</p><p>“Did you?” He asked curiously.</p><p>“We explored many planets,” Cere replied, “Tombs and temples related to the Zeffo and Jedi. But I hit a limit. To him, there was no limit.”</p><p>“The poor crazy old guy was left alone,” Greez nodded. Cere smiled sadly again, and shrugged.</p><p>“He was always alone,” she reminisced, “Even when I was with him. He cared about his work and the future more than anything else, at the end; he didn’t have the time. He was always on the move. Bogano is the first place I saw since my Padawanship that looked like he settled...even for a brief moment.”</p><p>Her eyes were a thousand lightyears away, watching her Master as he exclaimed over a long-forgotten Temple or artifact. Greez watched with a startling amount of empathy in his eyes, and nodded before heading to the bridge to input the course.</p><p>“Your Master is... like my Sisters?” Merrin tried to clarify. Cere nodded.</p><p>“We are raised by our Masters, taught the secrets of the Force,” she replied.</p><p>“How did you become a Jedi anyway?” Greez asked, returning from the bridge again and taking a seat at the table.</p><p>...</p><p>Commander blinked. He’d never really thought about how his friends had become Jedi; they had always been Jedi, just like he had always been a Clone.</p><p>“I was discovered by a Seeker when I was very young. They took me to the Temple to train,” Cere replied, and Jaro and Cal nodded as well.</p><p>“Oh yeah. Seekers,” Dritus nodded, “They are one of a kind, I’ll tell ya that much.”</p><p>Cal visibly suppressed a smile.</p><p>“You have no idea what a Seeker is, do you?” Cere asked in amusement. Commander wasn’t quite sure either, but he wasn’t going to admit that.</p><p>“Not a clue,” Dritus responded cheerfully, “They seek things?”</p><p>“They’re Jedi sent to find and retrieve young Force-sensitives,” Jaro explained, “Like the ones on that holocron.”</p><p>“I was a Seeker,” Cere added.</p><p>“Whoa, whoa,” Dritus said in excitement, “You know what this means?”</p><p>“I didn’t discover Cal,” Cere’s voice was amused, “if that’s what you’re thinking.”</p><p>Cal and Fritz giggled. Merrin smiled, guardedly. It was good to see the kid starting to relax around them.</p><p>“No,” Dritus gestured, “It means I’m a Seeker too!”</p><p>Cere laughed.</p><p>“I guess so,” she replied.</p><p>“Yeah,” said Dritus, “Seeker Greez!”</p><p>The children giggled, even Merrin. She watched the table with bright eyes, tilted her head, and then spoke up.</p><p>“So a Master raises a child and teaches them,” she said thoughtfully.</p><p>“A Padawan, yes,” Tapal rumbled, “This is my Padawan, Cal.”</p><p>“And Fritz is also your Padawan?” Merrin asked, tilting her head. Fritz outright laughed.</p><p>“No,” Commander said blandly, “He’s my Padawan.”</p><p>Fritz stopped laughing and looked confused. Cal smirked.</p><p>“You see,” Commander decided to explain to her, “Jedi Knights learn the ways of the Force, but to learn the ways of the Force, they forget to take care of themselves.”</p><p>“Hey!” Cal objected. Commander put a hand over his mouth.</p><p>“Therefore, It is the responsibility of the Jedi Commanders to remind them to eat and sleep every once in a while, make sure they aren’t trying to avoid going to the medbay when they need it, and keep them out of trouble,” Commander continued, “I’m teaching Fritz the art.”</p><p>“I am not that bad,” Jaro said mildly.</p><p>“You once attempted to hide a broken leg from the medics, Tapal,” Commander replied, just as mildly.</p><p>“Jaro!” Junda scolded the other Master.</p><p>“We were in the middle of an important offensive! It was only a hairline fracture, I could still fight!” Tapal tried to defend himself.</p><p>Commander let his facial expression speak for him. See what I have to deal with? Merrin giggled again, poking a sulking Cal in the side while Fritz almost fell out of his chair in laughter.</p><p>...</p><p>Bogano wasn’t really any better the second time. Better than Dathomir, certainly, but Cal plus Fritz plus cave systems always meant trouble, especially since they were both fooling around trying to get Merrin to smile again.</p><p>After Commander prevented one or the other of them from plunging off a crevice for the umpteenth time, they finally got back to the vault.</p><p>It was huge, with light somehow filtering in even though there had been no visible channels through the rock outside. The walls flickered with gold ruins. And in the center, on a bronze pedestal, was the holocron.</p><p>Cordova popped up again. He looked sad, and was looking at the floor. Commander followed his gaze and saw a hologram of BD-1 in the frame as well.</p><p>“The time has come,” Cordova said heavily, “This may be the last you see of me. I can sense the doom of the Jedi Order is upon us.”</p><p>The BD-1 hologram beeped sadly. The BD-1 in the present echoed the tweedle mournfully. Cordova shook his head at the droid.</p><p>“No, failure is not the end,” he reassured, “It is a necessary part of the path. Hope will always survive in those who continue to fight. Like you, BD-1. I believe you will find someone just as brave and persistent as you have been. And you will help them, as you have helped me. But your memory will be completely lost. Are you sure you want to do this?”</p><p>The BD-1 holo evidently resolved itself and acquiesced. Cordova nodded, and inserted a drive into the droid.</p><p>“Only with a trusted connection will your memories be restored,” he murmured, “I believe in you. As I always have. And I believe in who you choose to replace me.”</p><p>Cordova stroked BD-1’s visor unit, and then set it back on the floor gently.</p><p>“Goodbye,” Cordova said, hologram fading, “Old friend.”</p><p>Junda’s eyes were shimmering, and she walked forward to pick up BD-1 and give him another hug.</p><p>“You have done very well, BD-1,” she said, “I know Master would be proud.” The droid tweedled, a little happier, as Jaro retrieved the holocron from the pedestal.</p><p>After a moment, Junda loosened her grip on the droid, and BD-1 burbled and nudged her one last time, and then leapt over to Commander. Commander was caught off guard, and struggled to catch the sudden bipedal robot that had invaded his airspace. After a minute of Commander trying to catch BD-1 and BD-1 trying to get a firm grip on a piece of Commander’s armor in a mutually fruitless struggle, to the vocal amusement of Cal and Fritz, the droid decided to depart for more welcoming climes and bounced over to Cal, who caught him with the Force and settled him on his shoulder. Merrin pet him, still a little fascinated.</p><p>“Alright,” The Commander felt the need to start ushering them all out of the vault. Better safe than sorry. He wanted to get back to Dantooine, take a nice sonic shower in a ‘fresher that he could stand up all the way in, sleep in his own berth, make sure Cal and Fritz were caught up on their homework. If they stayed here, they were liable to find another quest to spend the next week trotting all over the galaxy on.</p><p>...</p><p>Greez looked up in anticipation as they boarded the Mantis. Cere hid a smile; he was much more interested in the Force than his hardened spacer persona would allow him to show.</p><p>“Did you find it?” He practically bounced. Jaro produced the holocron, and opened it with the Force. A dizzying list of names flew past their eyes. Greez looked at the holocron in wonder for a moment before shaking himself.</p><p>“Where to next?” He asked.</p><p>“Dantooine,” The Commander said immediately, and emphatically. He took off his helmet, his facial expression daring anyone to contradict him. Cere stifled a chuckle.</p><p>Greez and Tapal went forward to the bridge to lay their course, while the children and Commander settled at the table. Merrin watched as the Commander started fussing over Cal and Fritz with a blank expression, but her force signature hid longing.</p><p>Cere sat next to her. </p><p>“Do all Jedi treat their children like this?” Merrin asked quietly.</p><p>“They should,” Cere replied, “We are to care for our Padawans.”</p><p>“Then you were lucky to be raised a Jedi,” Merrin replied, voice stiff. Cere looked at her, and came to a decision.</p><p>“Merrin,” She said gently, “Would you like to be a Jedi?”</p><p>Merrin looked up from the table with slight shock on her face. The longing in her signature flared, echoed in her eyes.</p><p>“It will not be an easy path,” Cere cautioned her, “The Jedi forbid many of the practices of the Nightsisters, and you would have to catch up on years of training. You would probably be my apprentice for quite some time after your peers have graduated.”</p><p>She could see the gears turning in Merrin’s mind.</p><p>“I would like you to stay with me, regardless,” Cere continued, “If you do not wish to train as a Jedi, then as my assistant. You could accompany me on diplomatic trips, and I could train you in negotiation and espionage, but you still would have restrictions placed on certain Nightsister practices.”</p><p>“Like what?” Merrin asked cautiously.</p><p>“Raising the dead is incredibly disturbing as well as taboo for most cultures,” Cere said, “It’s seen as a sign of evil, of utmost disrespect to the dead and the living to remove the dead from their slumber and force your will on them. While I understand it is viewed differently in your culture, you probably would be barred from practicing it at all while affiliated with the Jedi.”</p><p>Merrin nodded, hesitance in her eyes.</p><p>“If you don’t wish to give up your traditions,” Cere concluded, “We can find the remaining Nighsisters and leave you with them, so you can continue in the ways of your people.”</p><p>Merrin nodded slowly, and looked at her hands. She snuck another glance at Cal and Fritz, who had fallen asleep leaned against the Commander and Jaro, who had returned from the bridge. The Commander was half asleep himself, helmet on the table and leaned against the Jedi Master. BD-1 had sprawled over Jaro’s head, recharging. Jaro looked resigned to his fate.</p><p>“I’d like to try to be a Jedi,” she lifted her chin, “My sisters are gone, I cannot bring them back, not truly, and I cannot carry on their ways alone. I will be a Jedi, going forward, and I would like to be your apprentice.”</p><p>“Well met, Padawan,” Cere murmured. Merrin smiled up at her, and leaned a little toward her. Cere hugged her gently, but was surprised by how tightly Merrin hugged back.</p><p>“If you change your mind, you can back out at any time,” she made sure to tell Merrin, “I will not think less of you.”</p><p>“I want to stay here forever,” Merrin’s voice was muffled by Cere’s shirt.</p><p>“Then you can,” Cere shrugged, though the motion was hampered by the teenage barnacle she had acquired. Merrin nodded, and shifted, and then stilled again. It was only when her breathing evened that Cere realized she had fallen asleep.</p><p>Jaro smirked at her, the jerk. She raised her eyebrow back, and settled in. She could use the nap.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>What did you think? I had a lot of fun writing this, especially trying to flesh out Cordova and Commander a little. And BD-1 is adorable, I want one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. I Dub Thee</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An evolving tradition.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m really ready for the semester to end, guys. My school only had one holiday this year, and I’m really feeling it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7962 CRC</p><p>15 BBY</p><p>4 years after the founding of the Dantooine Enclave</p><p>...</p><p>Ahsoka held her head high and took a deep breath. She couldn’t help but be nervous- she had passed all her trials, save the final unofficial trial; conducting herself in front of the Council for her Knighting Ceremony. She faced the door and squared her shoulders, taking encouragement from Anakin’s smile as he told beside her. She straightened the seam on her ceremonial robes, and stepped through the door.</p><p>Traditionally, a prospective Knight gave a small introductory speech in front on He Council, derailing their history as a Jedi: who had found them, their crèche Master, their training master and lineage, and other notable teachers. It was a way both of ensuring the prospective Knight remembered where they came from, as well as honoring their teachers.</p><p>They weren’t meeting in the usual Council Chamber, but rather one of the antechambers next to it. Ahsoka was confused when she entered the chamber, and slightly disappointed; only the natborn members of the Council were there, the Marshall Commanders and Rex were mysteriously absent.</p><p>She tamped down her disappointment. Boss wasn’t here either, which felt incredibly odd. His promotion exam must have run long; her Knighting and his promotion to Captain had been scheduled for the same day for some reason.</p><p>She stepped to the center of the oblong chamber, and bowed deeply.</p><p>“Masters,” she started the speech, taking comfort from the cadence of the ritual, “My name is Ahsoka Tano, a Padawan of our Order. I was found my Master Plo Koon at the age of four and taken to the Temple to be raised in Nexu Clan by Crèche Master Olorin. My hunt-mother was Shaak Ti, and I completed my Akul hunt at thirteen as is tradition. I was fourteen when I was taken as Padawan by Master Anakin Skywalker, and was taught by him for six years. Other members of my lineage are Master Obi-wan Kenobi, Commander Rex Torrent, Commander Cody Ta’raysh-Etad, and Alpha Alistar Ta’raysh-Etad, all of whom have acted as teachers to me.”</p><p>She hoped that Boss’s test was going well. He was one of the first Clones to be given a major promotion in peacetime, so she knew that they were still trying to figure out qualifications for promotion. Boss knew there would be a hand-to-hand combat examination, and probably tests on tactics and strategy. As she wondered, she outlined some notable parts of her apprenticeship, and described the trials she had endured.</p><p>“I have completed all of my traditional trials, and stand before you now as a candidate for Jedi Knight,” she gave the traditional conclusion to her speech. The council gave various nods, and some smiles from Anakin and Master Obi-wan and Master Plo. Then, they abruptly departed from tradition.</p><p>The Council stood, and began filing into the adjacent Council Chamber. She was almost worried she’d done something wrong, but Anakin was nearly bouncing on his toes as he waited beside her, and he and Master Obi-wan were the last through the door, Anakin gesturing for her to follow them.</p><p>She stepped into the main chamber to find the Marshall Commanders shuffling in from another antechamber. Following them was Boss, looking as confused as she felt. He was also in simple ceremonial robes, with only his vambraces and greaves on. The Clones were still developing a concept of formal dress.</p><p>She also wondered how he had done in his tests. He had some fairly interesting bruising on the parts of his skin that she could see.</p><p>The Council stood before each of their seats in a semi-circle, the Natborns igniting their sabers and holding them aloft, and the Clones settling into parade rest. Master Windu and Commander Cody stepped forward, Cody subtly handing Master Obi-wan’s saber to him after the man realized it was missing.</p><p>She stifled a giggle, and caught Boss’s smile out of the corner of her eye. Master Obi-wan mock glared at them, but lit his ‘saber anyway.</p><p>“Kneel, Padawan Tano, Cadet-Captain Boss,” Master Windu intoned. They knelt, Boss visibly confused, and Master Yoda tapped his lightsaber over their shoulders.</p><p>“By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force,” he began, “Rise, Ahsoka Tano, Boss Epsilon-33, Jedi Knights.”</p><p>She felt Boss’s surprise next to her, and hid a smile. The natborns had always regarded the clones as their equals, but this would drive it home in a new and interesting way.</p><p>Anakin stepped forward, and she unclasped her Padawan beads from her lekku. She pressed them into his hands, with another ceremonial bow. Anakin looked down at the beads, thoughtful, before carefully dividing the strand in two. One half he held close to his heart, and the other he held toward Master Obi-wan, who looked incredibly touched. After Master Obi-wan received his half of the strand, they bowed to her, and she bowed in return, along with Boss, who had chosen to honor his teachers by giving a carved and painted piece of wood to both Cody and Rex, before they bowed to each other. Master Windu as well, and then stepped back as Cody stepped forward.</p><p>“I don’t exactly have something traditional to say,” he told them, “Except good job, you earned this.”</p><p>He handed Ahsoka a folded piece of cloth, dark and deceptively heavy, with a piece of armor on top of it. A kama and a pauldron. He handed another set to Boss, who looked at them like they were made of gold, not duraplast and durakevlar.</p><p>“Congratulations, General Tano, Commander Boss,” Cody says formally. That seems to break the spell in the chamber, Council members calling congratulations, Anakin bouncing over to hug them both with Rex following him, amused. Master Plo tapped him on the shoulder after a while, and engulfed them in a hug that was just as enthusiastic as soon as her Master let go. Eventually he was induced to let them free as well, and Master Obi-wan tried to shake her hand. He seemed surprised when she hugged him instead, but soon relaxed.</p><p>“We should probably let everyone know the good news before Alistar starts battering down the door,” her Grandmaster smiled. She smiled back, and followed to the doors of the Council Chamber, and out into the Dantooine sun.</p><p>...</p><p>7968 CRC</p><p>9 BBY</p><p>10 years after the founding of the Dantooine Enclave</p><p>...</p><p>Caleb fidgeted in front of the door of the chamber. Master hid a smile in her sleeve beside him, but otherwise let him gather himself. Stance had been whisked away earlier that day by their Buir Grey, presumably for his promotion exam. Caleb had completed his final trial today as well, meditating for a full candlemark in one of the echo chambers on the north side of the complex.</p><p>It had been a deceptively simple task, but he shuddered with the memories of what he had seen, and voices he had heard. He couldn’t even tell himself they weren’t real; the echo chambers were called such because they echoed glimpses of other realities. All he could do was thank the Force that the things he had seen had not happened here.</p><p>There was one good thing he had seen, though; a boy with dark blue hair, looking up at him like he hung the stars, calling him Kanan, the nickname Hera called him, calling him Master. He tucked that image away, and the whispers from Hera, and the echoing shouts from Sabine, and the deep chuckles from Zeb, and they had helped him through the darkness. He hoped to meet the boy one day, and maybe he could take him as an apprentice.</p><p>He drew himself up, and waited patiently for the door to open. If he was not Knighted, he could never get an apprentice. The door slid open soundlessly, and he stepped in, head held high.</p><p>Master paced quietly to her place among the Council, and he gave his speech evenly. He hoped that it wasn’t too obvious that he’d practiced it in front of the mirror every morning for the last month.</p><p>He bowed after finishing his speech, and was only a little surprised when the Council rose as he stood straight again. Ahsoka had mentioned something like this, but had been pretty vague on the details other than ‘they’ve adapted the traditions a little to accommodate Dantooine.’</p><p>Everyone shuffled into the main Council Chamber, where they were met with the Marshall Commanders in their usual spots. The Council, by accident or design, arranged the seating in the chamber so that the Commanders and the Masters alternated and sat next to each other, instead of sitting in separate groups. Stance waited in the center of the chamber, trying not to pluck at his sleeve.</p><p>He looked odd without his armor. He was wearing ceremonial robes, and looked like he was desperately trying not to show how naked he felt in them.</p><p>Come to think of it, Caleb felt a little weird without his armor himself.</p><p>The Masters all moved to stand in front of their seats, and the Commanders stood at attention as the lightsabers were lit. Master Windu stepped forward, and said the traditional words as he touched their shoulders with his ‘saber.</p><p>“By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force,” he began, “Rise, Caleb Dume, Stance of Dantooine, Jedi Knights.”</p><p>Master Billaba stepped forward beside him, and smiled down at them both. She ignited her lightsaber, and while Caleb held very carefully still, she cut off his Padawan braid. She handed it to him, and he coiled it slightly before pressing it back into her hand. Next to him, Stance withdrew a small chip of plastoid from his robes, the first piece he had ever lost from his armor, and pressed it to Grey’s hand, before gently leading the Commander over. Caleb and Stance clasped their mentor’s hands together, carefully enfolding around the objects, so they were holding hands, before bowing. Master and Buir bowed back, Master’s eyes gleaming in pride, Buir’s eyes shining with tears and joy.</p><p>Cody stepped forward next. To Caleb, he presented a pauldron, as Caleb had already been wearing a kama since the war. To Stance, he presented a kama; Stance had received his ARC trooper qualifications a couple years after the war ended, and had started wearing a pauldron then.</p><p>“Congratulations, General Dume, Commander Stance,” Cody told them, and grinned. That seemed to be the ending point for the ceremony, as they suddenly found themselves entrapped in one of Grey’s signature arboreal octopus hugs. Master managed to find her way into the hug as well, though whether she had initially intended to was unknown.</p><p>Master Windu cleared his throat behind them.</p><p>“I would also like to congratulate my Grandpadawans on their knighthood,” he said to no one in particular.</p><p>Grey let go sheepishly, and Master Billaba stepped back as if she had not been squeezing them almost as hard, for Master Windu to shake their hands.</p><p>“Congratulations,” he told them solemnly, “I foresee you will become great Jedi.”</p><p>Ponds whacked him on the back of the head.</p><p>“Hug your grandkids, Mace,” he scolded, and then shoved Caleb and Stance toward him. Master Windu caught them by reflex, mostly, but held onto them for a couple seconds before letting go. Ponds caught them quickly as well, before Buir slung his arms over their shoulders and started leading them toward the door.</p><p>“We have a celebratory lunch planned!” He said cheerfully, “And your squad is probably getting curious about whether or not we are actually letting you out of the Complex.”</p><p>Caleb smiled as his Master gently tugged the tuft behind his ear where his Padawan braid had been, and ruffled Stance’s hair with her other hand.</p><p>...</p><p>7970 CRC</p><p>7 BBY</p><p>13 years after the founding of the Dantooine Enclave</p><p>...</p><p>Cal looked up as the clink signaled the end of the last candlemark in the Echo Chamber. He got up slowly, feeling the stiffness from his combat trials, and gave a hand to Fritz across from him.</p><p>Cal and Fritz had decided to do something slightly different for their Knight Trials. Instead of taking the traditional Jedi trials and the cobbled-together Promotion Exam separately, they wanted to do as much as they could together. Master and Commander had agreed, so they had spent the last month completing each trial in tandem. Yesterday they had completed their combat assessment, and Cal and Fritz had each acquired new and interesting bruises. But they had passed, holding their own against three different Commanders for the required amounts of time.</p><p>Cal was particularly pleased that he had managed to hold off Commander Cody for five minutes. Of course, he had several foot-shaped marks on his body to show for it, but he’d done it!</p><p>He shook himself back to the here and now, and waited for Fritz to get up across from him. His brother was even more sore than he was, having refused to tap out on any of his fights yesterday. He couldn’t resist reaching out his hand and hoisting Fritz to his feet, his psychometry echoing his brother’s soreness. It was a comfort, after the emptiness of the visions he had seen in the chamber.</p><p>They made their way to the main Council Chamber, and waited patiently for the door to open in front of them. Master Tapal and Commander were waiting inside, with the Council. Cal and Fritz made their way to the center of the chamber, and Cal started his speech. Fritz made a short speech as well, detailing his squad name and naming Commander as his caretaker.</p><p>Master Windu stepped forward as the rest of the Council stood at attention. Cal and Fritz knelt, and Master Windu tapped his lightsaber gently over their shoulders, just enough for them to feel the heat through their robes.</p><p>“By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force,” he began, “Rise, Cal Kestis, Fritz Kestis, Jedi Knights.”</p><p>Cal had offered Fritz his last name to use for formal occasions, when they were sixteen, saying that most brothers had the same last name. He had accepted. They were currently working on getting the Commander to accept that same offer.</p><p>Master Tapal and Commander stepped forward as well. Master lit his ‘saber and carefully cut Cal’s braid. Commander took his knife, and carefully cut the short braid that Fritz had grown over the last year, as well. Cal dig in his robes for a small microchip; his armor had not had a scruff bar since he was sixteen, and got too big to be picked up by the name of his armor and dragged away from danger. Commander had instead attached a tracker to his chestplate, and that was what he presented to Commander. Fritz pressed his into Master Tapal’s hand.</p><p>Cal and Fritz climbed up from their kneeling position, and Commander Cody traded places with Master Windu.</p><p>“Congratulations, kids,” Commander Cody told them, as he handed them bundles of heavy fabric and armor, “General Kestis, Commander Fritz, you’ve earned this.”</p><p>It was a kama and pauldron for each of them. Symbols of rank hadn’t yet been standardized at the Enclave; pretty much everyone above a Captain wore a kama or a pauldron or both, though there were some exceptions. Commander Cody, for example, simply had a visor on his helmet.</p><p>Cal was pretty sure that he’d decided kama and pauldron interfered with kicking people.</p><p>He took kama, and went to put it on before he remembered that he was wearing his formal robes, not his armor. He looked a little sheepishly at Fritz, who barely refrained from snickering at him. They were both surprised when Commander hugged them from behind.</p><p>“You need to keep yourselves out of trouble now,” Commander said gruffly, “But call if you need us, you hear?”</p><p>They nodded obediently. Privately, Cal thought Commander was just a worry wart, and that they didn’t get into nearly as much trouble as the man made out. But he was wise enough not to say that out loud.</p><p>Commander started to lead them toward the door, stopping occasionally to listen to Council Member’s Congratulations. Master Tapal brought up the rear, and put his hands on each of their shoulders.</p><p>“What he said,” Master rumbled, “And also, we are very proud.”</p><p>BD-1 poked his head out from Master Tapal’s hood and tweedled softly, then ducked back down before any Council members saw him. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be there. Cal suppressed a smile as they went to meet the rest of their friends.</p><p>It widened when he saw Master Windu’s surprised blink behind them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love reviews!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Something Blue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A slice of life in the Senate.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m back to my regularly scheduled fluffsanity! Last week I had another plotbunny hijack my brain, resulting in ‘The Consequences of Wearing a Touchy Mystical Laser Sword,’ I managed to get it out of my system and am writing for Arcadia again! <br/>We’re reaching the end of the series, I have about 8 to 12 more installments really planned. If I don’t get ambushed by more plot bunnies, that is. After I finish Arcadia, I have some time travel ideas that I want to flesh out, and I will have more time over the summer. </p><p>Warnings for this chapter: innuendo within the context of a loving committed relationship, gossip mags</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Coruscant</p><p>7968 CRC, 9 BBY</p><p>...</p><p>Fox smiled as he opened the door to his apartment. It had been a long day telling the Senate they were idiots, which was as frustrating as it was liberating.</p><p>Frustrating due to the amount of times he needed to repeat himself, Liberating, of course, because he got to tell the Senate they were idiots. Ten years ago, he would have paid for the privilege. Instead, he was the one getting paid! He was given a small stipend from Dantooine for expenses, most of which went towards food, as his living situation was... sorted.</p><p>He smiled as he wandered to the kitchen. His smile grew wider when he took in the vision by the stove.</p><p>He couldn’t help it, he was a very lucky man.</p><p>He crept up behind Riyo and slipped his arms around her waist. She jumped, a little, but laughed and slapped him half-heartedly when he tickled her ribs.</p><p>“As I recall,” he murmured into her ear, “It was my turn to make dinner.”</p><p>“I was hungry,” Riyo muttered back, “And someone was late.”</p><p>“Got caught by Senator Tururo,” Fox shrugged, leaning his chin on her shoulder, “That man has no sympathy for us diurnal species.”</p><p>Riyo chuckled, and put a lid on the pot she had been stirring. That was Fox’s cue to step back a little, spin her around, and pull her in for a kiss.</p><p>She returned the kiss passionately. Fox was a very very lucky man.</p><p>After a far too short time, or so it seemed to Fox, Riyo broke away and smiled at him. He rested his forehead against hers in a Keldabe kiss and simply enjoyed the moment.</p><p>He jumped when the kitchen chrono buzzed, and Riyo went back to her stew. Fox tried to help, but was shooed out of the kitchen.</p><p>The apartment was the Pantoran senatorial suite at 500 Republica. While it certainly wasn’t a penthouse, like the Naboo or Alderaan suites, it was serviceable, having two bedrooms as well as a combination sitting room and dining room and a small kitchen.</p><p>Apparently Senators weren’t expected to actually cook much.</p><p>Practically, only one of them could fit into the kitchen at once, without bumping into each other, so they took turns cooking dinner. Fox had enjoyed the Pantoran dishes Riyo made, and he’d made her some dishes they’d begun to habitually eat on Dantooine In turn.</p><p>He’d been hoping to cook her some Tiingilar (1), but that could wait. The Fetts had taken it on themselves to try to give the Clones some of their culture, including the traditional family recipes.</p><p>Fox set the table when Riyo told him the food was ready, and sat down to dinner. They made small talk over the stew, but were interrupted by a knock on the door before Fox could get seconds.</p><p>Fox exchanged glances with Riyo, who went to answer the door. She came back with a piece of flimsi in her hands, trying to suppress a smile.</p><p>It was the cover of a trashy holozine, the celebrity gossip type. The title was scrawled across the top in a bright red font: Sentients. However, Fox was distracted by the cover itself.</p><p>Right in the middle, almost the size of the cover, was a picture of Riyo kissing Fox in the Senate. Below the rather incriminated photograph, font almost as large as the magaine’s title screamed ‘Pantoran Senator in Passionate Affair with Clone Boytoy!’</p><p>Riyo snickered again. Fox raised in eyebrow and opened the magazine.</p><p>“Senator Riyo Chuchi has been a very naughty girl,” he read, deadpan, “And has been caught multiple times getting ‘arrested’ and patted down by Clone Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard.”</p><p>Riyo started full-on laughing. Fox had a harder time keeping his voice even as he continued.</p><p>“After his controversial and explosive return to the Rotunda as a representative instead of a security officer, Fox has made a name for himself by sowing chaos in the Senate building. Could this be another way of sowing-”</p><p>Riyo fell off her chair, and Fox was forced to abandon his reading to catch her. Her laughter was contagious, and he couldn’t help join her in chuckles.</p><p>“We are definitely getting this framed,” Riyo wheezed, “And sending a copy to your family.”</p><p>“Please don’t,” Fox replied, “They tease me enough as is.”</p><p>“Really?” Riyo said lightly, tracing his bracer with her finger, “They seemed perfectly nice.”</p><p>“That’s how they get you,” Fox nodded. Riyo giggled and pulled him down for a kiss. Fox promptly forgot all about both the magazine and his plans to get seconds of stew and pulled her closer. It was a long time before they said anything more.</p><p>...</p><p>The next morning, Riyo held back a smile as she bid goodbye to Fox when they parted ways to their separate Senatorial pods.</p><p>She settled into the Pantoran pod, nodding to the Senators on either side. She caught some odd looks, but nothing too out of the ordinary. She turned her attention to the usual minutiae of the Senate, listening as the minutes of the previous session were read, until she heard her name mentioned in the agenda.</p><p>“Item number 4: the Conduct of Senator Chuchi of Pantora and Clone Commander CC-1010 of the Jedi in violation of the Senate Charter, and their penalty,” droned the speaker. Riyo nearly fell out of her chair. She immediately looked to Fox, several dozen rows down but across the chamber from her, and he seemed just as surprised.</p><p>They could do nothing but wait until the agenda was addressed. Fox scrolled through a holo on his gauntlet furiously, face caught in a scowl. Riyo split her time between messaging her friends and Fox, trying to figure out what exactly they were being accused of, and how to fight it.</p><p>She was quite sure that they had done nothing wrong.</p><p>Finally, their item was announced to the Senate. Senator Urinto stood up pompously as he could as his pod drifted to the center of the Senate Dome.</p><p>“Gentlebeings of the Senate, I stand before you today to reveal a wrongdoing. Senator Riyo Chuchi And Representative CC-1010 have violated the code of conduct for our beloved Senate! They have besmirched this fine institution! They should be promptly dismissed!”</p><p>Riyo ground her teeth when the smarmy little Senator referred to Fox by his number. Fox’s face was blank- it was nothing he hadn’t heard before. That’s what made it worse.</p><p>“And what, pray tell, have the good Senator and Representative to deserve such a vitriolic speech against them?” Chancellor Mothma sighed.</p><p>Riyo was familiar with Chancellor Mothma, though not as close as she had been to Padmé and still was to Bail. They had both been part of the Delegation of 2000, under Palpatine. After Palpatine was deposed, the Delegation had elected to put Mon up as a candidate for Chancellor, as she was one of the most influential Senators in their group, and not so controversial as Padmé or Bail. She won, and had spent the next two terms dismantling the power that Palpatine had built up around the Chancellor’s seat.</p><p>However, the unfortunate thing about limiting the Chancellor’s power was that Mon couldn’t stop this farce legally; it would be a breach of the Freedom of Speech in the Senate if she tried.</p><p>“Senator Chuchi and the Representative are fraternizing in an inappropriate manner, putting their interests above those of their constituents!” Urinto said triumphantly, and as proof sent several holos of Fox and Riyo to the terminals.</p><p>Riyo paled and checked the holo- what exactly did they have? For a moment, she wondered if they’d actually bugged the apartment.</p><p>Fox’s paranoia must be rubbing off.</p><p>She sighed in relief when all the holos were taken outdoors, of Fox and Riyo shopping at an open air bazaar in one of the residential districts, out for dinner on a date, and one catching them in the middle of a rather... involved kiss.</p><p>Riyo touched her lips and smiled. Fox hadn’t been an excellent kisser at first, but he had learned very quickly. She was a lucky woman.</p><p>“Senator Chuchi, Representative Ehn’eta-Cuir, what do you wish to say in your defense?” Chancellor Mothma sighed. Fox looked up, and she nodded at him. They both drifted their pods to the center, facing Senator Urinto.</p><p>“I don’t appreciate you casting aspersions on Senator Chuchi’s honor,” Fox said bluntly with irritation in his voice, “The Senator and I have been married for six months now, and act as such in private. There is absolutely no regulation against that. We don’t allow it to interfere with our work, and as such our conduct is by not means deserving public censure. Leave me and my wife alone.”</p><p>Fox probably didn’t know how handsome he was when he defended her. A ping from her Senatorial inbox distracted her from mooning at her husband- Fox had sent a copy of their marriage license to every pod. Riyo opened it and smiled. That had been a good day.</p><p>...</p><p>Dantooine</p><p>Six months earlier</p><p>...</p><p>Fox waited nervously in the groom’s tent. He and Riyo had decided to get married on Dantooine, by both Mandalorian and Pantoran tradition. He was currently dressed in a neat set of robes, fussing nervously with the sash.</p><p>The outer tunic was red, deep red, the color of the Guard, and the inner tunics were white, with black boots that had been shined to a mirror finish. He felt odd out of his armor, but that wasn’t quite the source of his nervousness.</p><p>He was told that it was normal to be nervous on one’s wedding day.</p><p>Thorn grabbed his shoulders and gave him a gentle shake when he started fidgeting.</p><p>“She loves you, you love her,” Thorn said, urgency. Fox raised his eyebrow at his brother.</p><p>“...Yes?” He drawled, “That’s why we’re here?”</p><p>Thorn looked a little chagrined.</p><p>“All the holoadvice sites say that the groom or the bride might get cold feet,” he admitted, “And that it’s the duty of the best men and maids of honor to knock sense into them.”</p><p>Vos snorted, where he was lounging in a chair in the corner.</p><p>“The holoadvice sites are aimed at people who haven’t been pining after each other for a decade,” he said derisively.</p><p>“We haven’t been pining!” Fox was indignant.</p><p>“You are sappier than a Kashyykan sugar-syrup tree in tapping season,” Vos replied flatly, with a teasing twinkle in his eye, “It’s a problem.”</p><p>Fox scowled at him, but stiffened as he heard the music start. He did a last-minute check of his robes, brushing them off self-consciously even though they were spotless, and ducked out of the tent.</p><p>Pantoran wedding tradition was simple, though not quite so much as Mandalorian. Generally they were held in a large open space, with as many family and friends as would care to attend seated. Everyone was seated facing east, and at the front of the group was a small altar and the parents of the bride and groom.</p><p>Fox’s breath caught as he saw Riyo. She hadn’t allowed him to see her dress until now, insisting that it was bad luck, and hadn’t allowed him to show her his ceremonial robes for the same reason. It was worth the wait.</p><p>The dress was simple, in several shades of maroon. It was fitted to her form until the waist, where the lighter fabric was interrupted by a darker sash, and flared out in a sweeping, floor-length skirt.</p><p>Her hair was different too, swept up behind her head, with gilded pins holding it in place, and also securing a gauzy veil in front of her face. Riyo’s eyes sparked at him through the sheer fabric and he fell in love all over again.</p><p>Tradition dictated they weren’t to touch as they walked down the path to the altar, so Fox didn’t offer his arm. He hoped his smile conveyed the same sentiment, though.</p><p>Yma and Coruscant were waiting on either side of the squat altar, both smiling.</p><p>Fox and Riyo stopped in front of the altar, and didn’t kneel. Pantoran tradition was mostly focused on ancestor reverence, and the altar was symbolic of their ancestors that had passed on. It would be inappropriate to kneel to your grandmother, Riyo had explained, you smiled and said hello.</p><p>Yma stepped forward, and addressed Fox.</p><p>“You are the one who loves my daughter,” she asked, speaking the ritual words gently. Fox nodded.</p><p>“I am, and with that love I will make a solid foundation,” he replied. Yma nodded back.</p><p>“I give my blessing to this marriage,” she announced. Fox closed his eyes.</p><p>The next part was probably the most nerve-racking, he needed to say his vow. Pantorans had several hundred different vows that the bride and groom could choose from and modify at their leisure. Fox had chosen the one that had most spoken to him, and his past.</p><p>“You cannot possess me, for I belong to myself,” he began, turning to Riyo, “But while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give.</p><p>You cannot command me, for I am a free person</p><p>But I shall serve you in those ways you require</p><p>and the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand.”</p><p>Riyo stared up at him, eyes shining. She shifted her gaze to Corsac as he stopped forward and cleared his throat.</p><p>“You are the one who loves my son,” he asked Riyo, gruffly. Riyo nodded.</p><p>“I am, and on that foundation we will build our family and home,” she replied.</p><p>“I give my blessing to this marriage,” Corsac announced. Riyo turned back to Fox and looked into his eyes.</p><p>“I will be a shield for your back as you are for mine,” She recited, leaning in gently</p><p>“You are blood of my blood, and bone of my bone.</p><p>I give you my body, that we two might be one.</p><p>I give ye my spirit, `til our life shall be done.”</p><p>Now for Fox’s favorite part.</p><p>He gently lifted the veil and kissed Riyo. She leaned into it for a moment, and but pulled back and gave a mischievous smile.</p><p>“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde (2),” she murmured. Fox stared at her, and felt his face break into a smile. They hadn’t planned for this.</p><p>“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde,” he repeated back to her, and kissed her again. One of his brothers wolf-whistled. He paid them no mind.</p><p>On the altar were two boxes, one plain wood and the other white plastoid. Fox took a breath and opened the plastoid box, and drew out the wedding bracelets he had commissioned for Riyo.</p><p>They were longer than traditional bracelets, extending up the forearm more like a vambrace. Fox had designed them and commissioned Pulsar, a Guardsman who had picked up metalworking, to make them.</p><p>Pulsar used raw materials from the Venators; he’d taken the duralloy from the hyperdrive compartments for the base of the bracelet, as duralloy was the strongest metal known to the galaxy behind Beskar, Cortosis, and Phrix. Then he’d electroplated them with gold stripped from the control wiring. The end result was a streamlined golden bracelet that swept up the arm, etched with curved lines reminiscent of the Chuchi Crest. It could hold up to blaster fire at medium-range, which satisfied the primal little part of Fox that wanted to wrap Riyo in impenetrable armor whenever she was on Coruscant a little.</p><p>Riyo gasped when she saw them, and gently ran her free hands over them as he bucked them to her arms. They matched her golden hairpins, and also the pieces she habitually wore in the Senate.</p><p>Pantoran wedding bracelets were meant to be worn every day, so he wanted it to fit in with the rest of her clothing.</p><p>Riyo retrieved his bracelets from the wooden box, and he was momentarily stunned. Apparently they’d had the same idea with basing the bracelets off of vambraces, but these were actually armor, and as she lightly buckled them on him, they had the telltale weight of beskar alloy.</p><p>They were painted Guard red, with the elaborate Guard symbol in white.He traced his fingers on the swirls lightly, and then pulled her in for another kiss.</p><p>“May you feel no rain, for each of you will be a shelter to the other,” Corsac and Yma started the traditional benediction in synch, “May you feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth for the other. May there be no loneliness for you, and may your days be good and long together.”</p><p>That was the end of the traditional ceremony, and their friends and family surged around them to congratulate them. Fox hardly heard them, lost in his wife’s eyes.</p><p>...</p><p>The Senate Rotunda</p><p>Present Time</p><p>...</p><p>“The paperwork does seem to be in order,” Chancellor Mothma noted as she checkedthe holocopy of the marriage license. Riyo smirked. There was a reason for that- she and Fox had filled for full Pantoran marriage in triplicate, filing a copy with the Pantoran government as the originator of the custom, with the Jedi as Dantooine was Fox’s planet of residence, and with the Senate for interplanetary law purposes.</p><p>Pantoran marriages were designed to be simple to fill out and file due to local tradition. Most of the time, couples were married by their parents or other relatives, not legal clerks or religious ministers who specialized in weddings. Accessibility was key.</p><p>Fox also kept a copy of the marriage license in his comm’s files, with a couple wedding pictures. He said it was just in case, for situations like these, but Riyo had also caught him putting the license and pictures on a slideshow at the edge of his desk while he was working.</p><p>“Fox and I have been married for six months,” Riyo repeated clearly, “We hosted a traditional ceremony with our families, and filed all the due paperwork. If Senator Urinto had checked the marriage registry, he would have found the license. He has brought slanderous accusations to the Senate without doing his due diligence to confirm them; I move he be investigated for libel.”</p><p>For the Senator of a more conservative planet like Pantora, being accused of improper relations with someone was a huge political scandal. If Riyo did not have such well-documented and easily accessible proof of the nature of her relationship with Fox, this might have cost her the next election.</p><p>Senator Urinto sputtered, but Chancellor Mothma nodded gracefully. Fox was looking at her steadily with admiration in his eyes.</p><p>“Of course,” the Chancellor replied, “Senator Urinto, you are as of right now on probation.”</p><p>The Senator squawked, but had no real defense. He’d probably cost himself a lot of allies in his circles with that move.</p><p>It was an unspoken truth in the Senate that many of the Senators enjoyed spending time with their aides or secretaries, especially the ones that were in politics for power and not to do good. While such conduct was technically against Senate Code of Conduct, almost no one was called on it except for just these types of power plays. A lot of the Senator’s former allies were probably trying to distance themselves from him for fear he would do the same thing to them.</p><p>Riyo smirked. Couldn’t happen to a nicer sleemo.</p><p>She let her pod drift back to his dock, giving a more genuine smile to Fox as he did the same. She smiled wider as he made an exaggerated grimace at her. He’d never liked Urinto, and had always been more vocal about it than she was.</p><p>The rest of the day was ordinary and boring in the usual Senate way. What wasn’t boring, however, was the way Fox kissed her when they met back up to head to their speeder.</p><p>“Have I mentioned you’re beautiful lately?” He murmured in her ear. Riyo blushed. He told her that every day, but he was so sincere she couldn’t help it.</p><p>“You’re quite handsome yourself,” she murmured back, starting the autopilot to get them back to their apartment, “My Knight in shining armor.”</p><p>“I had to take the first strike,” he told her, “Or you would have verbally slaughtered him, and it’s such a pain to clean blood out of the pod’s carpet.”</p><p>She giggled against his chest, enjoying the contact. Holocalls were nice, but they were nothing like being next to the one you love. He bent down to kiss her, and the rest of the speeder ride finished without her really registering it.</p><p>You certainly couldn’t do that over a holocall.</p><p>They disengaged from the kiss eventually, finding the speeder stopped at their dock. Fox hopped out, and extended his arm like a gentleman. She took his arm, caught the gleam in his eyes, and decided to race him up the stairs to their apartment.</p><p>Corsac and Yma did want grandchildren, after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Notes:<br/>Full disclosure, I have never actually read a gossip magazine- I just went off what you see on the covers. How did I do?<br/>The ‘traditional Pantoran’ wedding vows are Celtic ones, (allegedly- they’re from the Internet). I thought they had a beautiful poetry to them. I modified the latter one for length and flow. Some of the blessings are also Celtic/Irish (the website wasn’t too clear). <br/>Factoid I learned while researching this fic- it is, in fact, entirely permissible for two members of the US Congress to be married and still serve at the same time. It’s happened several times. </p><p>1. A very spicy Mandalorian casserole, kind of the quintessential Mando dish. <br/>2. The Mandalorian wedding vows: we are one when together, we are one when parted, we share all, we will raise warriors.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Every Ghost that Calls Upon Us, Part 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A slaver raid on Lothal brings some new faces.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello again! Just posting this chapter quickly before I move.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7969 CRC, 8 BBY</p><p>Eleven Years after the foundation of the Dantooine Enclave</p><p>...</p><p>Ezra Bridger was scared. His mom and dad had told him to hide in the basement, that everything would be okay, and locked the door behind him. There had been a lot of loud noises, bumping and crashing, but he had been very still and very quiet like mom and dad had said and no one fund him.</p><p>He curled tighter into a ball. This wasn’t his first time hiding in the basement, even though usually Mom and Dad were here too. It was scarier alone.</p><p>They lived on a planet called Lothal, which was pretty nice, with small cities and lots of places to run around in the fields. Ezra had a few friends, though Whitty was a couple years older and Tuco was a baby, but they were fun to play with. And he had his Mom and Dad, and Uncle Tseebo.</p><p>But sometimes bad men came to Lothal, shouting and taking people away. Ezra didn’t know why. When he asked his mom and dad, they got sad and tried to explain, but Ezra didn’t really understand.</p><p>Mom and Dad said that the bad men were slavers, they were looking for people to sell, so they could get money. They wanted to hurt people, just for money. They had also said that Ezra should never ever go near anyone he suspected was a bad man, because the slavers would like him very much. Too much.</p><p>Ezra didn’t understand that either, but dad said that he was young, and kind, and handsome, and could make things float sometimes, and that the slavers liked all those qualities. Mom and Dad had told him that he needed to be very careful, and not come out of the hide until all the bad men were gone.</p><p>It was easier when Mom and Dad were here. Mom would hold him while Dad checked the planetary holonet for the all-clear signal. Ezra peeked at the signal alert in the corner. Still dark. The bad men were still here.</p><p>He jumped as a crash came from the floor above. The bad men were definitely still there. He put his hand over his mouth to hide a whimper.</p><p>For all his quiet, though, the bad men still found the hidden door. The next thing Ezra knew, he was looking at a spacer, not a nice spacer like mom worked with for her job, but a slaver. He screamed as he was grabbed by his favorite orange jacket and hauled out of the hiding spot.</p><p>“We’ve got a live one, boys!” The spacer sneered. Ezra screamed again, and tried to kick him and get away. He couldn’t get a blow to land. The spacer put his other hand over Ezra’s mouth to keep him quiet, so Ezra bit him.</p><p>The spacer said a very bad word.</p><p>“Why you little-“ he growled, shaking Ezra.</p><p>“Put him down!” Someone yelled, “Now!”</p><p>The slaver turned, moving Ezra as he went, and Ezra saw- a Jedi. He was just like the stories Mom told, tall and strong, with his lightsaber lit, glaring at the bad man.</p><p>There were other people there too, wearing pretty white armor with shiny paint on it.</p><p>“Put. The kid. Down,” the man in the armor backed up the Jedi’s statement. The spacer snarled, and tried to fumble for something at his side. Ezra froze when he realized that the spacer was holding a knife to his throat.</p><p>The Jedi froze for a second, before he reached out the hand that wasn’t holding the lightsaber and the knife was yanked right out of the slaver’s hand, like Ezra did sometimes. It was so cool!</p><p>There was a loud noise, and a flash of light from the armored men, and then the slaver collapsed behind him. Ezra didn’t hit the ground, though, the Jedi caught him and held him close.</p><p>It felt safe.</p><p>“It’s okay, kid,” the man murmured, “You’re safe now.”</p><p>Ezra could feel the truth in his words, and curled into the unforgiving chest plate.</p><p>“I want my mom and dad,” he muttered. The Jedi nodded, gently holding him in place as he started to walk.</p><p>“What’s your name, and do you know their names?” The armored man asked gently, and started to walk through the city.</p><p>“I’m Ezra Bridger,” Ezra enunciated carefully, “My Dad is Ephraim, and my mom is named Mara. I look a lot like my dad, my mom always says, would it help to have a picture of me?”</p><p>The Jedi chuckled.</p><p>“We’ll look under their names first,” he said, “My name is Caleb, and my brother Stance is next to us.”</p><p>Ezra looked over at the armored man- he was walking beside them. He looked nice, and gave a little wave when he saw Ezra peeking at him.</p><p>“Where are we going?” Ezra Asked, “I’m not supposed to leave the hide.”</p><p>Stance looked a little sad, but kept walking.</p><p>“The hide isn’t really a very good hiding spot anymore, kid,” he said, “So we’re taking you to the Red Crux disaster center. The raiders are gone, anyway- those were the last of them.”</p><p>Ezra nodded, but mostly just kept holding on to Caleb. Caleb felt safe, like Mom and Dad did. He decided he wasn’t going to let go of the older man. Mom and Dad would like him.</p><p>...</p><p>Stance exchanged a glance with Caleb as they trudged toward the Red Crux center. He was somewhat worried about the child’s parents, but they couldn’t know anything until the planet did a tally of missing citizens.</p><p>The Red Crux center had been set up in a mid-sized school, with aid workers and citizens alike swarming the place. Caleb walked to the nursery, and stopped to speak with a worker there. Stance shadowed him out of habit.</p><p>“This is Ezra Bridger,” he told the tired-looking woman, “Can you watch him until we find his parents?”</p><p>Ezra perked up and shook his head vigorously.</p><p>“No, I need to stay with you!” He insisted, clutching Caleb.</p><p>“You need a place to be safe,” Caleb tried to persuade him, “You will be safe here.”</p><p>“No, I need to stay with you! I can feel it!” Ezra insisted again.</p><p>Stance had given up on trying to persuade Ezra to let go, and started gently prying him off his brother. It stabbed at his heart a little, but Ezra had parents that were probably looking for him. He needed to stay here.</p><p>Ezra did not want to stay here. He started screeching like a banshee. The tired woman tried to help shush him, but Ezra refused to be consoled. He screamed as Stance and Caleb gently pried one arm free of Caleb, but as they gently loosened the second arm, the woman’s clipboard began to float. And the folding chairs. And the tables. And the blankets in the nursery.</p><p>“Don’t make me leave!” Ezra cried.</p><p>“You need to stay here so your parents can find you,” Caleb tried to persuade the kid.</p><p>“My parents were taken! I know it!” Ezra screamed, “Don’t send me away too!”</p><p>Stance stopped trying to grab the kid, and everything settled again, Ezra looking at him with fearful eyes.</p><p>The tired woman sighed.</p><p>“Sirs Jedi, I am unequipped to handle this,” she said, “Is there any way he could stay with you?”</p><p>Caleb and Stance looked at each other in momentary panic.</p><p>“How old are you, kid?” Stance asked his brother’s new limpet.</p><p>“Eleven,” The kid mumbled into Caleb’s shoulder. Stance did some thinking.</p><p>“My Padawan is thirteen,” he mentioned to the tired woman, “Naturally, we try to keep her away from danger when possible. He could stay with her.”</p><p>The woman nodded, and motioned for them to follow her. She led them to one of the folding tables, and gave them some forms.</p><p>“Temporary guardianship,” she tapped one form, “Normally this is for family members or vetted foster parents, but Jedi are also automatically qualified to foster in Republic systems for situations like these.”</p><p>Caleb shrugged and began filling out the form. Once the paperwork was turned in, they exited the center.</p><p>Search teams were still sweeping the city. They wouldn’t have a final count of how many the slavers had stolen for another five days at the earliest; many people were still hiding. However, it wasn’t Caleb and Stance’s job to search and rescue; the locals had that well in hand. It was their job to find the slaver sons-of-Hutts and make them pay.</p><p>Revenge was not the Jedi way, Stance knew, but some people really needed to be tracked down and dragged before justice. And if he took satisfaction from it, well, it was the Jedi way to strive for justice.</p><p>...</p><p>Sabine looked up curiously when Stance and Caleb walked up the ramp to the ghost. They had stopped at Lothal because the slavers they were chasing had raided there, and Caleb and Stance had gone to try to get information from the local authorities.</p><p>They came back with more than just information.</p><p>Sabine looked at the boy clinging to Caleb and grinned. She knew what this meant. She was getting a Padawan-cousin! Jedi adopted people like Mandalorians did, after all, and she still remembered when Ba’vodu Tyro came back with her new cousin a couple years ago. This looked just like that.</p><p>“Sabine, this is Ezra,” Stance introduced them, “Ezra, my Padawan, Sabine.”</p><p>“What’s a Padawan?” Ezra asked.</p><p>“My apprentice,” Stance answered, patting her on the shoulder, “I’m teaching her how to be a Jedi.”</p><p>Ezra’s eyes widened.</p><p>“Cool!”</p><p>Their conversation was interrupted by Chopper rushing through the hold, whomp-whomping as he went. Hera followed him, wiping her hands with a grease rag. She’d been repairing the Ghost while they were stopped, they’d blown a gasket on the hyperdrive with that last jump.</p><p>“The others aren’t back yet,” she told them, “But we’re flight-ready when they get here.”</p><p>Caleb nodded back, dipping to kiss her cheek. Hera leaned in for a second, before poking Ezra’s ear.</p><p>“Who’s this?” She smiled. Ezra giggled back.</p><p>“I’m Ezra!” He introduced himself.</p><p>“We’re keeping an eye on his until they find his parents. He’s Force-Sensitive enough that the temporary nursery would have trouble with him,” Caleb explained. Hera raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“Well then, hello Ezra, it’s lovely to meet you, I’m Hera,” she told the boy. Ezra nodded. Caleb put Ezra down, and he wandered over to her and tilted his heard.</p><p>“Why is your armor so colorful?” He asked, “They only have three colors, not... I can’t count how many are on yours.”</p><p>Sabine puffed her chest in pride. That was one of the nicest things she’d had said to her all week.</p><p>“We’re from different traditions,” she explained to Ezra, “Caleb and Stance wear white, and red, and copper, because those are their legion’s colors. Red is for their parents and siblings, and copper is for their own legion.”</p><p>Ezra nodded, invested.</p><p>“I like to wear all these colors because they mean different things to me,” Sabine continued, “I wear copper and red and white, because I’m also part of the legion, but I also wear orange for lust for life and blue for reliability and purple for helping my family and...”</p><p>“Breathe, Sabine,” Hera cut in absently.</p><p>“Is she your mom?” Ezra whispered.</p><p>“No, but she kind of fills in when I’m away from my mom,” Sabine whispered back, “My mom is on Mandalore.”</p><p>Ezra nodded, only looking a little confused.</p><p>“A legion is like a family,” Sabine tried to explain, “But we’re an awesome family, because we go around helping people. We’re on our shakedown cruise right now, figuring out where we can help people the most.”</p><p>Ezra nodded thoughtfully, and then they both jumped when Zeb shouted into the hold.</p><p>“Company!”</p><p>...</p><p>Zeb raised his eyebrow at Rocket as they waited for the entourage to exit the Ghost. Next to them, Republic Security Bureau Kallus and Minister Tua waited with varying degrees of patience.</p><p>Zeb, Rocket, and the rest of Rocket’s squad had tried to run search and rescue for a while, until the local teams had assembled to take over. Then, they had been directed to the disaster center, where Agent Kallus and Minister Tua were waiting.</p><p>Apparently, Caleb and Stance had done it again.</p><p>They brought the good agent and minister to the ship, and the occupants of the shop came out to greet them.</p><p>It was the usual suspects, accompanied by a small child who Zeb did not know. He exchanged another look with Rocket. This would be good.</p><p>Minister Tua raised an eyebrow at the sight of the small child.</p><p>“This would be the boy you’re currently fostering?” She asked dryly. The kid perked up and started to edge closer to Caleb.</p><p>Zeb’s nose was much better than a humans, due to his being a Lasat, but he probably would have been able to smell the trouble brewing even if he was human and had a stuffy nose to boot.</p><p>“What’s your name?” Minister Tua tried to ask the boy gently. The kid was having none of it.</p><p>“Jabba the Hutt,” He said stubbornly. Zeb snickered, and heard several other of the squad chucking as well. Agent Kallus looked less amused, and took a step toward the boy.</p><p>The kid took a step back, a flash of intimidation on his face, and scrambled to Caleb. Once he reached the Jedi, he clamped his arms around the man’s leg. Zeb didn’t bother hiding his snickers.</p><p>“We just got him to unlatch five minutes ago,” Caleb sighed, ruffling the child’s hair affectionately to take the sting out of his words.</p><p>“Why isn’t he with foster services?” Minister Tua Asked, taking care to keep her voice neutral. A look from her also led to Kallus stepping back, vaguely ashamed.</p><p>“Foster’s overloaded right now as is, and he’s Force-sensitive enough that they couldn’t take him at the moment. I’m his temporary foster,” Caleb replied, and looked down at the kid, “And I would really appreciate circulation in my leg, buddy, I need that.”</p><p>The kid loosened his grip but did not let go. He was looking suspiciously as Kallus and Tua.</p><p>“We have information about the raiders,” Kallus changed the subject, studiously avoiding looking at the child. The kid seemed to appreciate the gesture, steadily loosing his grip on Caleb.</p><p>“We have two men tracking them as is, they’re heading toward a known slaver station. We have two legions on standby as backup if we need to take over the station,” Stance said, crossing his arms. Kallus nodded, but pulled out a flimsi folder anyway.</p><p>“Here’s our info,” he offered, “We don’t think these are the usual Hutt-affiliated ones. They’ve hit the planet six times in the last local year, and they seem to get bolder every time.”</p><p>“Let’s see if we can’t take them down a few notches,” Stance rumbled in return. Behind him, Sabine gave a wicked smile and smacked her fist into her open palm.</p><p>“Another temporary foster?” Kallus raised his eyebrow, taking in the technicolor girl.</p><p>“Nah, she’s my Padawan,” Stance replied absently, flocking through the intelligence briefing.</p><p>Kallus and Tua blinked. Kallus recovered quickly, and nodded with a professional air.</p><p>“I would like to request to accompany you as a liaison for the Lothal government,” he requested briskly, “if that would be possible.”</p><p>Zeb looked the agent up and down, taking in the impeccably shaved sideburns, perfectly gelled hair, and spotless uniform.</p><p>This would be fun.</p><p>...</p><p>Alexandr Kallus wasn’t sure what to make of the Jedi. They seemed young, but competent enough, both with the mission and with the children. </p><p>The small blue-haired one had been watching him suspiciously. He had decided not to provoke the child, as he honestly didn’t like the idea that a child would be scared of him. He turned to the Lasat instead, and the child wandered up to the bridge.</p><p>“You had an unusually fast response time when we signaled for help,” he opened the conversation, “We weren’t expecting you for another planetary day, and you arrived within the hour.”</p><p>The Lasat shrugged.</p><p>“We were in the area. We’re on our shakedown cruise right now,” he explained.</p><p>Kallus blinked.</p><p>“Caleb and Stance and everyone else just got Knighted,” the colorfully-armored child elaborated cheerfully, “So we can go on solo missions together now!”</p><p>“I wasn’t aware that new knights had already assembled such large groups to travel with,” Kallus replied carefully. Part of being an RSB agent was a short course on Jedi, their rankings, abilities, and how to support them on missions. The course mentioned that new Knights often travelled alone. Kallus looked around at the bustling freighter and mused that this was the opposite of being alone.</p><p>“We’re an exception,” One of the troopers shrugged, “Our brothers had an eventful apprenticeship, and met Hera and Sabine and Zeb before we were knighted.”</p><p>“Do you have a purpose for traveling together, or do you go where you are called?” Kallus asked. One of the other Clones sitting across from him shrugged.</p><p>“Generally, we try to fight slavery,” he replied, “Hera is our contact with the Ryloth Freedom Fighters, Zeb’s our Representative from Lasan, and Sabine helps us when we need to coordinate with Mandalorians. We also do regular missions, though, if a planet needs help that we’re close to.”</p><p>Kallus was quietly skeptical, but didn’t say anything. It must have shown on his face, though, because the girl spoke up with a huff.</p><p>“I’m an adult!” She insisted.</p><p>“Mandalorian adulthood is at thirteen,” one of the other troopers corroborated. Kallus’s eyebrows raised. Well, each planet had their own traditions, he supposed.</p><p>“How did you all meet?” He asked, for lack of more engaging things to do. Stance chuckled.</p><p>“Eh, My squad was assigned to General Billaba about the time Caleb was, during the war,” he began, “We became friends.”</p><p>“Caleb and Stance were my babysitters at a peace summit,” Sabine mentioned, “And we kept in touch, after.”</p><p>“I met Hera on an undercover mission, tracking spice while she was tracking slaves,” Dume mentioned.</p><p>“I was liaison for them during an attempt on the life of the King of Lasan,” Orrelios finished.</p><p>Kallus nodded, thoughtfully.</p><p>“You live interesting lives,” he mused.</p><p>“It’s an occupational hazard,” one of the troopers- he really should learn their names- snarked back.</p><p>“I’m sure,” Kallus replied, “RSB agents don’t seem to have the nonstop adventure you do, so I’ll do my best to keep up.”</p><p>...</p><p>Caleb was worried. Ezra was dozing behind him in the cockpit, curled up in the navigator’s seat. He looked over at Hera, once he was sure the kid was actually out, and pulled up a holo message from his comm.</p><p>“This is the list of missing persons on Lothal from the raid,” he whispered. He scrolled to a particular point, and indicated two names.</p><p>Mara Bridger.</p><p>Ephraim Bridger.</p><p>“Oh,” Hera said quietly, also very aware of the small boy sleeping behind them, “He was right.”</p><p>“They’re both in decent health, from their medical records,” Caleb said grimly, “And they’re young enough to be saleable.”</p><p>He felt a bit sick, like he always did when talking about selling people, but pushed though it.</p><p>“They’re likely still alive,” Hera finished the thought for him.</p><p>“We just have to find them,” Caleb replied, still grim.</p><p>“Well then,” Hera turned to the controls, and double-checked the navigational readings.</p><p>“Rocket followed them from the time we stopped on Lothal, and the 501st is ready for an offensive as soon as they exit hyperspace,” she muttered, checking their comms. Rocket, Stance’s second in command, had split off from their group to follow the slaver frigate in his fighter. The Ghost wasn’t equipped for hyperspace tracking, so they had elected to help with disaster relief on Lothal instead. They were still in Lothal orbit, but ready to make a jump as soon as they had a destination.</p><p>The hard part was waiting until they received their destination.</p><p>Caleb and Hera lapsed into intermittent conversation, staring out at the star field around Lothal, and at the planet below them. They were discussing the merits of Rylothian Chili as compared to Dantooine Tiingilar when the signal chimed.</p><p>They had a destination.</p><p>Hera radioed the hold.</p><p>“Buckle up, kids, we’re taking off,” she said, flipping the appropriate sequence of levers to initiate a jump. With a jerk, the stars in front of them blurred into lines across the cockpits glass, and they were off.</p><p>Neither Caleb or Hera noticed Ezra waking up, at first. The child was very quiet, still uncertain of his surroundings. They noticed when he padded between their seats, eyes wide and fixed on the star-trails outside.</p><p>“Whoa,” he breathed softly.</p><p>“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Caleb agreed. It had been ages since he’s properly appreciated hyperspace travel- it was just a fact of his life. There was nothing like the wonder of a child to really make you look at the world around you, he supposed.</p><p>“Where are we going?” Ezra asked innocently.</p><p>“Hopefully,” Caleb patted his shoulder, “To get your parents back.”</p><p>Caleb didn’t think the kid’s eyes could get any bigger.</p><p>“We’re going to get them?” He said, in a small voice, “No one ever went to get the taken people before.”</p><p>“People did go after them,” Hera said gently, “But not from Lothal. My friends have been finding a lot of people from Lothal when they go after people from other planets, so we wanted so see what was wrong there. That’s why we’re here.”</p><p>“You go after people who are taken a lot? And you have friends who do it?” Ezra was looking at them now, the star field forgotten.</p><p>“Yeah,” Caleb replied, “It’s our job, and our duty.”</p><p>Ezra kept looking at him with luminous blue eyes and said nothing, but there was an odd feeling in the Force. Caleb put the feeling aside for later analysis. They were about to jump into a fight.</p><p>...</p><p>They arrived at a desolate moon to discover that he 501st had gotten there first.</p><p>Well if that wasn’t utterly typical, thought Hera.</p><p>Hera kept the Ghost at a safe distance while Caleb, Stance, the troopers, Zeb, and their new friend the RSB agent kitted up. They would be taking the Phantom to the main slaver ship to help with the boarding process.</p><p>It was a bit of a tight fit, but they managed. The Phantom wasn’t really meant for people, it was a modified cargo shuttle, but they made it work. Sabine tried to sneak in, only to be discovered and summarily ejected back into the Ghost’s docking bay.</p><p>“Nice try, Padawan mine,” Stance said around his brother Booth, “But you know the rules. No boarding parties until you’re up to my shoulder.”</p><p>The RSB agent looked like he was torn between bewilderment and humor at the situation, stuffed between Hatchet and Trudy as he was, but the Phantom’s hatch closed before Hera saw which he decided on.</p><p>She returned to the cockpit as the Phantom jetted away, watching the small shuttle dart to the larger slave freighter.</p><p>There wasn’t much in the way of fighter combat or even cannons. The freighter had been disabled by the 501st, by the looks of it, and had been boarded. The wreckage of a few shuttles floated in space, and points on the hull of the freighter were now craters. Those must have once been guns.</p><p>But now, the battle was mostly internal, the tricky business of crawling through corridors and holds to neutralize slavers without harming their cargo. The 501st were old hands, as were Stance and Caleb and their squad. They would be fine. It was Hera’s job to watch the ship, the mischievous droid happily whomp-whomping around the cargo bay, and the put-out Mandalorian teen.</p><p>“I’m ready for a boarding party,” Sabine sulked, “I’m an adult, in full armor. I could toss some paint grenades- the slavers wouldn’t know what hit them.”</p><p>“Paint grenades?” Came another voice. Hera startled for a moment, before remembering that this mission came with the extra responsibility of keeping Ezra out of trouble.</p><p>Sabine startled a bit too, turning to the young boy with curiosity and then a frankly terrifying speculative look.</p><p>“No paint grenades on the Ghost, young lady,” Hera felt the urge to clarify. That had been a messy afternoon.</p><p>“No one here is any fun at all,” Sabine muttered. Ezra looked offended.</p><p>“I’m plenty fun!” He insisted, “I play tag, and hide and seek, and I’m the best in my neighborhood at throwing rocks!”</p><p>Hera had not been aware that throwing rocks was a competitive sport. She was starting to wonder if hers was the more difficult job, rather than Caleb’s storming the freighter.</p><p>“There will also be no throwing rocks onboard the Ghost, either,” she added, to the disappointed stares of the two children.</p><p>“Spoilsport,” Ezra muttered. They recovered from their embarrassment eventually, as Hera walked back toward the cockpit, and started to whisper to each other.</p><p>Hera kept half a lekku on the conversation as she maneuvered the Ghost closer to the freighter. From the comms chatter she was monitoring, most of the fighting had cleared up, and the troops were focused on evacuating the freed citizens from the freighter to the 501st’s dreadnaught.</p><p>Hera coordinated the evacuation efforts for a while, but then something registered in her mind. She looked up sharply.</p><p>It was too quiet. There was something wrong.</p><p>She handed off evacuation control to someone on the dreadnaught and got up from her seat. It took a bit of searching, but she heard some quiet scuffling and giggling.</p><p>That wasn’t good.</p><p>She walked into the hold to find- color. Everywhere.</p><p>Well. Not everywhere, but certainly in more places than it was. Chopper had a new paint job- the orange and white of his chassis gleamed in the cargo hold lights. Sabine’s Art Wall had been completely repainted, with abstract figures of people holding weapons high in victory replacing the old star birds. Sabine’s armor was also colorful in a different way than Hera had seen last, and she and Ezra were both hunched over a Clone helmet, carefully painting it with intricate designs.</p><p>Hera sighed, and wondered whose spare helmet was getting redecorated. She couldn’t see any identifying symbols on it, but a lot of the guys chose not to repaint a spare until they actually needed it, so another could use it if necessary.</p><p>She stepped closer and cleared her throat. The children jumped.</p><p>“It’s not a paint grenade!” Sabine rushed to defend them.</p><p>Hera sighed again. Sabine was right. It wasn’t a paint grenade.</p><p>“Alright, you two,” She said, “Don’t get paint on anything vital.”</p><p>She got two innocent nods, and sighed yet again. Nothing for it it to go back to evac coordination. Here’s hoping the ship wouldn’t be too colorful when they were done.</p><p>...</p><p>Zeb was first off the rather crowded shuttle as it came into dock.</p><p>“Honey! We’re home!” Warbled Caleb, still stuffed in the cockpit of the shuttle with Stance and Rooster. It was impressive because the shuttle was meant to only be piloted by one person.</p><p>Zeb reached back to Kallus to help pry him out from between Booth and the bulkhead. The RSB agent accepted the help with a rueful expression. The Phantom could technically carry twice as many average humans, but Clones were much larger than human average, and Zeb was a Lasat. Even the somewhat cramped cargo hold seemed spacious compared to that.</p><p>The Phantom slowly emptied into the hold. Zeb felt the faint lurch of hyperspace, and soon heard footsteps from the cockpit.</p><p>He also heard footsteps from the secondary cargo hold, faster, two sets. A pair of blurs rounded the corner.</p><p>Colorful blurs.</p><p>Uh-oh.</p><p>Sabine and Ezra, both hued in all the colors of the rainbow, skidded to a stop in front of them, both trying to see further into the shuttle.</p><p>“Stance! Stance! What happened? Did you get all the slavers? Tell me!” Sabine demanded, bouncing on her toes.</p><p>Ezra was quieter, peering around the mass of troopers disembarking from the cramped shuttle. Stance appeared, laughing, and began to give Sabine a sitrep.</p><p>To his credit, he only paused a moment when he registered the long purple streak across half her face. He’d had months to get used to his Padawan’s love of color.</p><p>The two people helping each other out of the shuttle had less time to adjust. Ezra’s eyes had gone wide when he saw them, and he’d taken a hesitant step forward.</p><p>“Mom? Dad?” He whispered, like he was afraid they weren’t really there. The couple froze for a second, then turn to look. The woman knelt.</p><p>“Ezra,” she whispered, “My baby.”</p><p>Zeb didn’t even see Ezra move. One second he was staring at the couple- his parents- in wonder and disbelief, and the next he was wrapped in their arms like a hug could erase the last forty-eight hours.</p><p>For a moment, perhaps, it could.</p><p>Zeb left the family to their own devices, tucking himself away in a corner of the hold to write up a short report. One of the downsides of his liaison position was that he needed to summarize his activities to the Lasat government every time they raided a freighter or market, or pretty much any other mission. It wasn’t anything incredibly taxing, more a short report including how much ammo he spent, if he sustained any injuries, if he freed any Lasat, if there was any relevant intel that would benefit Lasan. But it was still paperwork.</p><p>Kallus settled on a crate across from them, holding his own datapad up with a rueful smile. The man had fought well, armed with a long-barreled blaster rifle. He used it like a staff in close quarters, with moves that almost resembled Zeb’s with his bo-rifle.</p><p>Maybe they could spar later, when they had returned to Lothal and didn’t run the risk of accidentally concussing one of Zeb’s friends in the cramped hold.</p><p>...</p><p>Caleb was a little awkward on the ride back to Lothal. He kind of missed the kid, but Ezra’s parents were here. Ezra had probably attached to him out of fear of the unknown, naturally he’d relax when his parents were returned to him. It was right, and good, that Ezra didn’t cling to his leg like he had when he’d first come aboard the Ghost.</p><p>That didn’t mean there wasn’t a little part of Caleb that was put out that the little child wasn’t following him like a duckling anymore. That part of Caleb had a very heavy Mando’a accent. He elected to ignore it.</p><p>He was surprised, them, when they landed on Lothal and Ezra came to get him again. He exchanged amused looks with Stance, and let Ezra lead him away, where his parents waited slightly confusedly.</p><p>“This is Caleb!” Ezra told them. Caleb shrugged when the couple looked his way. He’d been the one to cut off their shackles, and had introduced himself then, but maybe they hadn’t told that to their son. He couldn’t blame them.</p><p>“He’s supposed to look after me,” Ezra continued, “And teach me. It’s one of those feelings I get, you know?”</p><p>Caleb blinked. The Bridgers looked at Ezra worriedly, but seemed to accept the answer.</p><p>“Ezra said the house was ransacked,” Ephraim turned to Caleb, as they walked through the city, “How bad is it?”</p><p>Caleb winced. It had been bad. He didn’t have time to elaborate, as they rounded the corner to see the Bridger family home, or what was left of it.</p><p>The entire front of the small house was gone, like the houses on either side. The slavers had obviously had time to start ransacking the house before Ezra had been discovered.</p><p>The family stayed in front of the house for a moment in shock. Caleb hunched over a bit; he hated that he hadn’t gotten there sooner.</p><p>Eventually, though, the Bridgers started moving.</p><p>Mara started to comb through the rubble for what was salvageable, while Ephraim started checking the structure of the house. Ezra helped Mara, and Caleb decided to help Ephraim; it was the least he could do.</p><p>The sun was dipping below the horizon when Mara and Ezra, and eventually Ephraim, had finished combing the rubble. The house wasn’t safe to sleep in; Caleb was subtly reinforcing the structure with the Force even now, as they picked their way out of the debris.</p><p>“Do you have a place to stay?” Caleb asked quietly.</p><p>“The Red Crux center has a shelter,” Ephraim answered, equally quietly, “We have enough savings to get the house stable again, and Mara and I can work toward fixing the cosmetic damage over the next few months.”</p><p>Caleb ducked his head. He liked the Bridgers, he didn’t want them living in a house with no windows for months on end. He watched Ezra fall asleep on his father’s shoulder, and the words came without his permission.</p><p>“You could come with me,” slipped out of his mouth, before he even realized it. Ephraim stared at him.</p><p>“Ezra’s Force-sensitive,” Caleb explained, “He would make a good Jedi Knight, I think. I would like to train him, with your permission. And you could come to Dantooine with us; there’s room for a few more.”</p><p>“The Jedi never used to let the families go with the children,” Ephraim murmured.</p><p>Caleb shrugged.</p><p>“We’ve had a bit of a doctrinal reformation recently?”</p><p>...</p><p>Ezra wasn’t sure what was going on. He’d fallen asleep on his Dad’s shoulder, but when he woke up, they were back on the Ghost. It was morning, and the cargo hold ramp was open, so he wandered outside. There was a lot of noise, whoops and hollers and sounds of people running.</p><p>His mom and dad were sitting in the sun with cups of caf, so he went to join them. As he walked through the grasslands, he watched the people around him.</p><p>Caleb and his brothers and Sabine were running around the ship, sometimes really fast like something was chasing them, sometimes slower like they needed to run a long way. Hera was sitting on the ground, doing weird stretches, with Chopper beside her turning his dome occasionally. Zeb and the agent were fighting with long sticks, laughing when one of them hit the other.</p><p>These people were weird.</p><p>Caleb split off from his brothers when he saw Ezra was awake and stopped in front of them.</p><p>“Hey Ezra,” he began, and crouched down to Ezra’s level, “I have a question for you.”</p><p>Ezra blinked at him.</p><p>“You know you have feelings, and can move stuff with your mind sometimes,” Caleb continued. Ezra nodded. Those feelings were the reason he stayed with Caleb. He knew he was supposed to stay with Caleb, just like he was supposed to stay with his mom and dad.</p><p>It was a little confusing.</p><p>“That’s called being Force-sensitive,” Caleb continued, “You can connect with the Force, which is an energy field that surrounds and penetrates all living things. It’s what helps make people Jedi Knights.”</p><p>“What about your brothers?” Ezra asked. Stance couldn’t make things move like Caleb could.</p><p>“They’re Jedi Guardians,” Caleb replied, “They have a different skill set.”</p><p>Ezra nodded thoughtfully. That made sense.</p><p>Caleb took a deep breath.</p><p>“Ezra,” He said, evenly, “I would like to train you, as a Jedi Knight.”</p><p>Ezra felt his eyes grow huge.</p><p>“Really?” He whispered, Caleb wanted to train him to use a lightsaber? And to help people?</p><p>“Yeah,” Caleb replied, sounding a little nervous. Why would he be nervous?</p><p>“What about Mom and Dad?” Ezra asked. He didn’t want to be taken away from his parents, even if it was to be trained as a Jedi.</p><p>“We’ll come with you, honey,” Mom told him, “We can work where the Jedi live.”</p><p>Caleb was still looking at him, nervousness creeping into his face. Ezra realized he hadn’t actually answered his question.</p><p>“Yes,” he told the older man, “I would like to train with you.”</p><p>And then he gave Caleb a hug, because it felt like he should. Caleb hugged back- he gave nice hugs.</p><p>“Thank you, Padawan,” Caleb said into his hair, “I promise to guard and guide you on the way.”</p><p>Ezra didn’t pay much attention to the words, he just enjoyed the feeling around him that everything was as it should be.</p><p>...</p><p>Grey waited... somewhat patiently as the Ghost touched down on Dantooine. Depa, next him, hid a smile in her bracer. He poked her in the side, where her armor didn’t quite cover to allow for flexibility in movement. She poked him back, using the Force, in his side where the armor did cover.</p><p>That was cheating!</p><p>Finally, though, the boarding ramp came down and he could hug his sons. They took the surprise attack with grace, though Rocket squirmed a bit. After Grey had made certain that he’d hugged everyone at least once (he had a habit of hugging multiple people at once, so he had to do hug algebra to make sure; how many times do you need to hug three people to hug eight people?).</p><p>After he had finished hugging his sons, though, he stepped back to greet the rest of the crew. Hera looked at him, amused, like she always did. The two people next to her looked a bit confused. Sabine was talking quietly to Depa, and Chopper was off repairing something probably. Zeb was...</p><p>Grey blinked. Wait a minute. Who were the two people next to Hera?</p><p>There was a third person as well... a small boy, who looked like the couple. Caleb was holding his hand, and said something to him. The boy looked up, giving Grey a flash of a stubby braid behind his ear.</p><p>Grey’s mind went blank.</p><p>“I’m too young to be a ba’buir!” Seemed to be the first thing out of his mouth. Naturally, Stance nearly fell over laughing.</p><p>“What am I, chopped bantha liver?” Sabine asked, in a somewhat righteous rage.</p><p>“You’re my youngest ad’ika,” Grey reassured her, “I’ve been the one responsible for cleaning the paint off of you too many times for you to truly be my grandchild.”</p><p>Sabine nodded, thoughtfully. Grey spun back to face Caleb.</p><p>“But you!” He pointed, “Did not tell me I was going to be a ba’buir!”</p><p>“Surprise?” Caleb shrugged, the little miscreant. Grey ruffled his hair as he introduced himself to the couple and their son, who was hiding behind his father’s leg.</p><p>“I’m Grey,” he told them, “I’m their parent.”</p><p>He jerked his head to indicate his sons.</p><p>“I am Depa Billaba,” Depa said next to him, “I’m Caleb’s Jedi Master; I trained and raised him, and the rest of his brothers by extension.”</p><p>“For Force-sensitive children, the more eyes on them, the better,” Grey clarified. The couple nodded.</p><p>“Mara and Ephraim Bridger,” the man introduced them, and then nodded, “We noticed that.”</p><p>Grey didn’t quite know how to feel about grandkids. It was, indeed, quite the surprise. Depa must have noticed his bemusement, because she stopped next to him at the edge of the group to watch their family play with each other. Stance ruffle’s Sabine’s helmet, and laughed as she squawked in indignation. Ezra seemed to recover from his awe and was asking Caleb question after question. Caleb was looking a little overwhelmed.</p><p>Depa smiled, next to him.</p><p>“You know, there is a saying among Jedi,” she murmured to him, “The grandpadawan is the Master’s revenge.”</p><p>Grey looked at Caleb, who was becoming more confused by the moment as Ezra’s questioning, and held back a snicker.</p><p>This would be a sweet revenge indeed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The way I figure it, the Empire cracked down on the slave trade during their reign; they don’t want slavers kidnapping Imperial subjects, if only because that means there are fewer people for the Empire to force to work on their own projects...<br/>I love comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. All My Life’s a Circle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s come time for Luke, Leia, and their brothers to be apprentices. The Jedi were not prepared for this.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I had some fun with this one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>7971 CRC, 6 BBY</p><p>Thirteen years after the foundation of the Enclave</p><p>...</p><p>Luke made sure to avoid all detection as he crept through the vents. This was a Very Important Mission, and must be completed as all costs. He stopped, for a moment, when he hit a seeming dead end. </p><p>“Sitrep, Artoo!” He whispered into his commlink. Artoo beeped a quiet all-clear and a previously unseen vacuum door opened. The dead end turned into just another ventilation corridor in the maze. </p><p>“Status, Red Leader?” Ajax checked on him tersely. </p><p>“Good so far, Red Two,” Luke replied, keeping his voice to a whisper. </p><p>“Deploying Red Three,” Cyrus added, with a slight rustling noise over his mic. </p><p>Reds Four through Seven checked in equally quietly, with terse status updates and the occasional static through the mics. </p><p>Good. The operation was on target. He reached the rendezvous point, settled in, and waited; he listened to the occasional slight scuffle and Darius’s soft curses when he got stuck. </p><p>Eventually, they had met up at the rendezvous point, which was a junction between about ten different ventilation systems. Luke looked at six of his brothers, all stuffed into their own vents, and grinned. They grinned back. </p><p>“Operation Wild Turbogoose Chase is a go!” He whispered, and reached into the special knapsack he’d rigged from a standard clone carry kit, and drew out a trabbit. </p><p>His brothers grinned wider, and did the same. At once, they released the trabbits into a certain shaft that wasn’t occupied by brothers, and grinned as the creatures sped away. </p><p>They’d done their homework on this one. With all their crawling around and manipulation of vacuum sealed doors on this Venator, there was only one place the trabbits could end up. Namely, the Ghost, which had been docked in Master Billaba’s Venator, the Seven Island Suite, for a tenday. </p><p>They waited silently for five standard minutes, enough time for the trabbits to reach their destination and begin wreaking havoc, and then proceeded along their exit route, stifling their giggles. They were almost home free when they ran into an unexpected complication. </p><p>The redheaded Knight stared at him and raised his eyebrow. </p><p>“Hello, young ones,” he greeted with no small amount of amusement, “Fancy meeting you here.”</p><p>Luke froze, his brothers trying to back out of sight behind him. The Knight just smiled widely, with an undercurrent of great amusement. </p><p>“What, precisely, are you doing on Dume’s ship again?” He asked, trying to put on a serious face. His attempt was doomed to failure when a trabbit came tearing through the ventilation duct three inches from his nose. </p><p>The Knight blinked. </p><p>“Was there a number three on the side of that trabbit?” He asked, somewhat confused. </p><p>Luke snickered into the palm of his hand, and froze as a banging noise echoed from a far-off grate. </p><p>...</p><p>“Follow me!” The mysterious knight whispered, and scrambled off. Lacking another option, they did as he said, crawling from air duct to maintenance shaft and cleaning closet. They finally exited through a gunnery compartment that was near enough to ground levels to jump from. Good. Darius had wondered if they were going to get lost. </p><p>There was a Clone about the Knight’s age waiting, with his arms crossed, leaning against a land transport. A BD unit perched on his shoulder and chirped in greeting. </p><p>“All done!” The Knight said cheerfully, holding out his hands for the BD to leap into. </p><p>“You’ve picked up shadows,” the Clone said, looking down at Darius and his squad. Luke gave his best innocent look back. </p><p>“Found them in the vents,” The Knight shrugged, “Also a strangely numerical trabbit. Decided to ask more questions when we got off the ship.”</p><p>The Clone turned to them expectantly. Darius pushed Cyrus forward- he was the one with the best speaking skills. </p><p>“We were getting revenge on Ezra,” Cyrus explained, “He said Chopper was the best astromech on Dantooine and that Artoo was just a rusty old knockoff. So we realeased seven trabbits, each painted with a number; we had one, two, three, four, five, seven, and eight.”</p><p>“That sounds... clever. Who’s Artoo?” Asked the Knight, with amusement coloring his tone again. As if summoned by his words, the blue and white astromech came careening down the corner, with the sounds of chasing feet behind him. </p><p>“We’d better go!” Said the Knight, and ushered them onto the transport. It was a tight fit, but Darius and his brothers were used to tight fits. They would try to find out how many of them could fit in the closet to their room when they were bored. When they were younger, they could fit all twelve members of their squad in; now, the standing record was nine. </p><p>“Why were you in the vents?” Luke, who had ended up half on top of Keion between the Knight and the Clone, asked curiously. The Knight’s face darkened before he gave a playful wink. </p><p>“Caleb insulted my poncho,” he said, mock threateningly, “He called it a tatty old tuber sack.”</p><p>“To be fair to him, you were wearing the poncho you had made of tuber sacks,” the Commander said mildly. </p><p>“I can’t believe a member of my own family would say such a horrible thing!” The Knight gasped back. </p><p>The Knight wasn’t wearing a poncho at the moment, only some simple armor with a climbing harness, so Darius couldn’t give any judgement to the truth of Knight Dume’s words. They came to a slow stop, though, outside another Venator- the Albedo Brave. </p><p>After offloading themselves and Artoo from the speeder, Luke turned to face their unlikely rescuer. </p><p>“Luke Skywalker,” he introduced himself, “My brothers.”</p><p>Darius started the roll call, a cadence that was almost as old as they were. Dad had gotten tired of introducing them all, so he’d taught them roll call as soon as they could talk. </p><p>“Darius!”</p><p>“Cyrus!”</p><p>“Ajax!” </p><p>“Keion!”</p><p>“Sargon!” </p><p>The Knight and Clone blinked. </p><p>“Cal Kestis,” The Knight offered, “This is Fritz.” </p><p>The Clone nodded, mostly focused on trying to pry Artoo out of the speeder where he had been shoved. The BD on his shoulder beeped in indignation. </p><p>“I would never forget you, BD! This is BD-1,” Knight Kestis continued. </p><p>Artoo beeped at Fritz and used his rockets to dislodge himself from the speeder. </p><p>“This is Artoo,” Keion introduced them, and then turned to Fritz, “Why weren’t you on the ship with Knight Kestis?”</p><p>“Cal’s a skinny little twit, so he can crawl through the vents just fine,” Fritz said in good nature, ignoring Knight Kestis’s objection, “I haven’t been able to fit since fifteen-equivalent, so I’m the getaway driver. And I keep BD company, since he makes too much noise on the gratings.”</p><p>Clones who had been accelerated for most of their life often used age-equivalent terminology to clarify things. Due to the variety of ages that were given the aging cure, eight years old could be a variety of sizes and maturity levels. Age-equivalence helped lessen the confusion.</p><p>Darius suppressed the dismay that one day he would be too big to fit in the ducting. All good things must end, he supposed. </p><p>BD stamped his foot on Cal’s spaulder to make a clatter and beeped softly. </p><p>“We might be able to fix that,” offered Darius. He and Luke and Sargon liked to tinker in Dad’s workshop and fix things. Dad was very proud. </p><p>Then again, Dad was also very proud of Leia and Hector for taking after mom and bring good political talkers, proud of Jurek for inventing a new organizational system for the workshop, of Tychon for being the fastest in the squad, and of Verdé, who had just learned to say all her sibling’s names. Dad was proud a lot. </p><p>“Really?” Knight Kestis responded curiously, and the discussion devolved into droid talk from there. Darius didn’t notice the odd, curious looks that Knight Kestis and Commander Fritz gave them, except in hindsight. </p><p>This was a memory he would treasure, after all. </p><p>...</p><p>The next day</p><p>...</p><p>Padmé opened the door to their quarters curiously, and then raised her eyebrow. </p><p>Knight Cal Kestis smiled sheepishly at her, and his brother shifted next to him. </p><p>“Can we come in?” He asked, adjusting his poncho nervously. Some Nabooans would refuse to talk to him for the poncho alone. </p><p>Padmé withheld judgement; ponchos were an accessory difficult to pull off, though they could be the base of a solid fashion statement if you wore them right. Knight Kestis seemed to be managing. </p><p>Knight Kestis and his brother, Fritz, she believed it was, ducked into the doorway at her nod and followed her to the sitting room. She shooed the boys off to their father’s workshop, Knight Kestis seemed a bit nervous and the boys were too exuberant to notice. They’d blow off steam working on droids or pretending to fly the Twilight. </p><p>Knight Kestis sat after she did, and made a conscious effort not to fidget. </p><p>She sent a quick comm message to Anakin. This seemed to be a serious conversation. </p><p>“Has any master expressed interest in training Luke?” Knight Kestis asked nervously, “He’s about to turn thirteen, if I’m remembering right.”</p><p>Padmé nodded in confusion. Anakin ducked in the door, and gave a short greeting to Knight Kestis, who nodded back politely. </p><p>“As far as I’m aware, no Masters are looking to take Luke as a Padawan,” Padmé explained. </p><p>It was true. Obi-wan had declared himself retired from the training of Skywalkers, even after Zatt had been knighted, and Ahsoka currently had a young Padawan of her own, a Tholothian girl named Atinji. </p><p>Knight Kestis straightened up. </p><p>“I’d like to take Luke as my Padawan,” He said, all in one breath, “and his brothers, if they’d like to.”</p><p>Padmé blinked. Anakin sat up next to her, and turned to her for guidance. She looked at Knight Kestis carefully, and thought about what she knew of the man. </p><p>He was energetic, and enthusiastic to help people. He was compassionate. He got into trouble in his Padawan years, but had straightened up to be a good Knight. </p><p>“Why Luke and his brothers, and not someone from the Crèche?” Anakin asked, curiously, but with a slight tone of judgement. She elbowed him in the ribs. </p><p>“We couldn’t promise you anything special in terms of education or experience if we trained them, but we run together well, like Luke and his brothers do,” Fritz said quietly, “And Cal and I feel like something is telling us to do this.”</p><p>Padmé made her decision. </p><p>“I can’t see why you couldn’t,” she told Knight Kestis, “He’s in Hangar 12 if you want to ask him now.” </p><p>Knight Kestis stuttered through a goodbye and left hurriedly. So hurriedly, in fact, that his brother was left behind. </p><p>“Thank you,” Commander Fritz said quietly, “I know we don’t know you very well, and that you’ve likely just heard of how we get into trouble, but this means a lot to both of us.”</p><p>“You are our fellow Jedi,” Anakin said firmly, “That’s all we need to know.”</p><p>For once, Padmé thought that she couldn’t have put it better. </p><p>...</p><p>Cal had been incredibly nervous, asking to take the Skywalker boys as apprentices. It had been an impulse, and yet not, at the same time. He and Fritz had stood beside each other, talking to the Skywalker children about droids and missions, and hearing their dreams to become Jedi and help people across the Galaxy- and something just clicked. It was like someone was whispering in their ears, quietly, that these children were theirs to teach and train and guide. Cal could tell that Fritz felt it too; his brother’s face, and his feel in the Force, gave that away. </p><p>And the Skywalkers- well, Cal has fought in the war briefly with Master Tapal, and they had won their share of battles with their men, but Anakin Skywalker was a legend, him and the 501st. The mere rumor of reinforcements from them could bolster the most exhausted of spirits over the longest sieges. And Padmé Amidala was recognized as one of the greatest politicians of her era, even though her career was less than three decades long. They were an intimidating combination. </p><p>And they had given him permission to train their children! He gulped, suddenly intimidated. Fritz caught up to him as he froze in indecision, stopped as well for a moment, and then stood up straight and squared his shoulders. </p><p>“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Fritz repeated their childhood motto for the millionth time. They’d gotten into all kinds of trouble with that motto. It seemed both appropriate and at the same time incredibly inadequate to encapsulate their feelings about this. </p><p>“The Force favors the bold,” Cal replied, and opened the doors. </p><p>The kids were gathered around a junky old speeder in their workshop area. It looked like they were trying to modify it so Artoo could dock into it as pilot. </p><p>Cal hid a smile, and wondered if BD-1 could fly it too. BD’s scomp link was pretty compatible to astromech ports, his major limit was processing power. BD gave an interested tweedle, as well. </p><p>Cal made a note to keep an eye on his droid. Then his mind turned to other matters. </p><p>“Knight Kestis!” The kids noticed them walking up, “Commander Fritz!”</p><p>And- Cal was hit with he nervousness again, but wrestled it down. Nervousness, yet peace, to paraphrase the Code badly. </p><p>“Hey, kids,” he said, only a little awkward. The kids didn’t seem to notice. </p><p>“Look what we made!” Darius said, pushing forward with a pair of... booties? In his hand. </p><p>Cal blinked, for a moment forgetting the entire reason he was there. </p><p>“They’re for BD!” Cyrus explained, “So he doesn’t make noise in the ventilation ducts!”</p><p>BD buzzed inquisitively, and leapt over to the boy. It took a couple minutes to gently attach the boots to BD’s treads, but BD seemed to like them. He jumped from shoulder to shoulder, beeping happily, but otherwise not making a sound. </p><p>Commander would not be happy. </p><p>Cal was even more surprised when BD leapt from Fritz’s shoulder to the side of the speeder, landing perpendicular to the ground, but sticking. He blinked in surprise. </p><p>“We also gave them magnetic capability,” Sargon said proudly. </p><p>Oh, the Commander wouldn’t like this one bit. Cal couldn’t suppress his smile at the thought. </p><p>...</p><p>Fritz jumped as a weight suddenly appeared on his shoulder, and turned to glare at BD. </p><p>“We can’t hear you when you’re jumping around, now,” he told the little droid, “You have to warn us.”</p><p>BD beeped repentantly. </p><p>Cal had gotten lost in droid talk with the kids again, so Fritz helpfully tweaked his elbow to remind him why they were in this hangar. Fritz was selfless like that. </p><p>Cal glared at him, rubbing his elbow, but started to direct the conversation away from droidspeak and more towards apprenticeship. </p><p>“Fritz and I have an important question to ask you,” Cal stuttered a little, “We think the Force is telling us to, or something is telling us to, maybe not quite the Force but something like it...”</p><p>Fritz tweaked his elbow again, making the children giggle. Fritz hid a smile. </p><p>“Would you like to be our apprentices?” Cal rushed out. The children stopped giggling and boggled at him. </p><p>Fritz saw a couple eyes drift toward himself, and shrugged. </p><p>“Cal can teach you about the Force,” he said, “I’ll teach you about blasters. I don’t think we’ll be able to separate it quite so much as other Knight-Commander teams, fair warning.”</p><p>There was an intense amount of calculation behind those eyes. Fritz hadn’t felt this nervous since his and Cal’s promotion trials. </p><p>“And you’ll take all of us as apprentices,” Cyrus asked probingly. Cal and Fritz nodded, more or less in synch. They’d spent so much time together that they found themselves mirroring each other, more often than not. </p><p>The children looked at each other, probably talking through the Force. After an anxious minute, they all looked at Fritz and Cal and nodded. </p><p>Well, Fritz knew the only appropriate response. It took a bit of work to hug six children at once, but Cal helped, and they managed between the two of them. </p><p>“Does this mean we have help pranking Ezra?” Asked Sargon, with a smile in his voice. </p><p>“Only if you help me get Caleb,” Cal replied, with an evil grin plain in his voice even if Fritz couldn’t see his face. </p><p>Fritz reserved the right to stay neutral in this argument. He didn’t know Caleb, Stance, or Ezra very well, but Hera scared him and he was staying on her good side of at all possible. </p><p>“I have something to celebrate this occasion!” Cal announced, and drew a large bundle of cloth out of his knapsack. </p><p>Fritz blinked, and the next thing he knew everyone around him was wearing a poncho, including himself, BD-1, and R2-D2. He blinked again, taking in the sight of the children admiring their new garments. Luke especially seemed taken by them. </p><p>BD-1 seemed more excited about the occasion in general, hopping up onto R2’s dome, making his poncho swish dashingly. R2 joined the occasion, engaging his jets and flying circles around the group. </p><p>Fritz felt sure that this would lead to all the best kinds of trouble. </p><p>...</p><p>one month later</p><p>...</p><p>“Come in, Skywalker,” Fox called absently, checking his flimsiwork. The Senate has taken a recess, so he was back on Dantooine for a break, talking to his brothers about things he needed to vote for in the Senate and simply taking a rest.</p><p>It was odd, to be done with his paperwork. He relished the feeling. </p><p>He looked up as the door slid open, but his eyes didn’t meet Skywalker’s blue ones. He frowned, and checked his tablet. He definitely had a meeting with Skywalker right now. He looked back to the door, still meeting air where the tall Knight’s face should be. </p><p>A small voice cleared its throat. </p><p>Fox blinked, and let his eyes drift downward. He finally found a face a little less than halfway as far up as he was looking. </p><p>It was the Skywalker girl, Leia. She was dressed in simple but nice clothes, and held a datapad to her chest demurely. Fox caught a glimpse of some of her brothers outside, sitting in his waiting area, before the door closed. </p><p>Fox blinked again. </p><p>“My apologies, Miss Skywalker,” he slipped into the Senatorial manners that had become his life so recently, “My secretary didn’t specify which Skywalker I had an appointment with. I’m afraid I assumed it was your father.”</p><p>That was odd. Otis was generally more thorough than that. </p><p>“No apology necessary,” the girl nodded, and sat on the chair opposite him, “I may have been less than specific when I made the appointment about who was to attend it.”</p><p>Ah. That explained things. Otis had been vindicated. </p><p>“What can I help you with, Miss Skywalker?” Fox asked, opening up a blank document on his datapad. He’d treat this like any other meeting. Leia was more professional so far than most of his brothers. </p><p>“I’d like to become your apprentice,” Leia started cleadly. Fox’s brain stopped working. </p><p>“I’m not a Jedi,” Fox said blankly, trying to reboot his mind. </p><p>“You certainly are!” Leia exclaimed, “We have the legal papers to prove it!”</p><p>“I mean,” Fox said, “I can’t train you to be a Knight.”</p><p>Leia nodded in satisfaction. What was this child after?</p><p>“I don’t want to be a Knight,” she pronounced, “I want to be a Senator.”</p><p>Fox blinked again. </p><p>“You’re a bit young to run for the position,” he said. Leia gave him a dirty look. </p><p>“I want to learn, from you,” She enunciated, “How to best be a Senator. When I am of age, I can then run against you.” </p><p>“You want me to train my competition,” Fox said, starting to become amused. Leia gave a sly smile. </p><p>“What, are you afraid I’d beat you?” She asked. Fox grinned back. </p><p>“I like you,” he said, “Not everyone would have the guts to walk up to me like that. I’ll take you on for a trial basis, you can come to Coruscant with me as my aide for the next session with your parents’ permission.”</p><p>“Thank you, Commander Fox,” Leia said, smiling incandescently. </p><p>Fox had a good feeling about this. </p><p>...</p><p>Leia was amazed at the Senatorial Chamber; she’d never seen anything so big. You could fit a Venator in there, she thought. </p><p>Next to her, Jasper was similarly amazed. Her parents’ stipulation for being allowed to go to Coruscant was that she take at least one of her brothers with her, so Jasper, Hajir, Hector, Jurek, and Tychon had come with. Her other brothers were starting their apprenticeship with Knight Cal. </p><p>She’d asked them, to make sure they didn’t want to stay on Dantooine was well, but Jasper wanted to see the Senate too, and Hector wanted to see Coruscant’s architecture, and Jurek and Tychon wanted to learn from the Coruscant Guard anyway. Hajir had come along because he didn’t want to be left home alone with Verdé, even though this trip wouldn’t help his pilot training. </p><p>Fox smirked, putting his hands on their shoulders to guide them to the Dantooine pod. </p><p>“It’s pretty amazing the first time you see it,” he told them, amusement in his voice, “But you’ll give yourselves away as country bumpkins if you stare.”</p><p>“Be nice, Fox,” Senator Chuchi scolded, “I dare say you stared quite a bit when you first saw it as well.”</p><p>“I had a helmet on,” Fox said blandly, “It wasn’t nearly so obvious.”</p><p>Senator Chuchi elbowed Fox in the side. Leia sighed dreamily; they were clearly in the middle of a great romance. </p><p>“Don’t mind my wife,” Fox said, giving an only moderately lovesick look at Senator Chuchi, “She needs to get to the Pantoran pod before assembly starts.”</p><p>Senator Chuchi checked the time, jumped, and scrambled away, calling a goodbye over her shoulder. Fox watched her go, and then turned to them. </p><p>“This session, you are my Senatorial aide,” he told them evenly, “So be prepared to take notes and do a lot of paperwork. I’m not a tour guide, you know.”</p><p>Leia nodded, feeling a little intimidated. Behind her, C-3PO spoke up, having been miraculously quiet for most of the walk so far. </p><p>“Excellent! I am equipped with audio recording and transcription capabilities, and am eminently capable of summarizing any informational input. I will be happy to help you, Mistress-“</p><p>Leia held up her hand, waiting for C-3PO’s steady stream of dialogue to halt. </p><p>“I need to do this myself, 3PO,” she said quietly, “I need to learn, and you can’t learn for me.”</p><p>Fox tilted his head and nodded at her, approvingly. </p><p>“That’s the spirit, kid,” he said, “Now, quiet down. They’re about to start roll call.”</p><p>...</p><p>Jasper had a persistent headache. They’d been on Coruscant for almost two full tendays now, with another to come until the session broke. He and Leia had been thrust into the world of political maneuvering, and Leia had thrown herself into it with gusto. </p><p>He functioned mostly as her impulse control, keeping her from causing a scene or physically assaulting some of the lowlifes in the Senate building. He was used to it, having done it since they were seven. It was his lot in life. If he enjoyed it, that was his business.</p><p>Fox seemed to like Leia, though, and tolerated him well enough. Jasper wasn’t sure he wanted to be a Senator, not like Leia was, but he thought he’d enjoy being an aide and helping people. Also keeping Leia from assaulting people. </p><p>What he did not enjoy was here, and now.  </p><p>They were eating mid meal in the Senate’s cafeteria. Fox has gone to fetch his wife from the Pandora pod, and they had probably decided to take their time walking back. Leia and Jasper had just decided to start eating without them. </p><p>The Senate cafeteria food was pretty good. A lot better than the rations Jasper remembered from when he was little, but not as good as what Jurek could make. His other brothers were with the Guard contingent back at their apartment, learning how to sweep a room. Jasper almost wished he was with them. </p><p>It wasn’t that he didn’t like learning about the Senate, or watching Leia in her element. It was the looks and stares. Other Senatorial aides were giving him sideways glances and even glares as he walked past. It was like being in a fishbowl. </p><p>One particularly brave, or perhaps foolish, aide sat next to him and Leia and leered at them. </p><p>“What’s a little Clone doing here?” He asked, “And who are you, missy?”</p><p>“I’m his sister,” Leia replied, in a dangerous tone. </p><p>“Then you must be a truly incredible mutant, as you look nothing like the others,” the Senator replied snidely, “And that doesn’t answer my question about what a flesh-droid and a mutant are doing here.”</p><p>Leia- snarled, like a nexu, and got into the rather startled aide’s face. </p><p>“Don’t talk about my brother like that! He’s a person, just like everyone else, and you will believe it or I will wipe you out of the Senate like the smear you are!” She shrieked. </p><p>Jasper grabbed her around the waist and tried to prevent her from physically attacking the aide. Business as usual. What was not business as usual was when another pair of hands grabbed Leia’s arm, large ones, but gentle. </p><p>“Is there a problem?” Fox asked, faux pleasantly. The aide snarled back. </p><p>“Control your attack animals, Representative!” He exclaimed, and Fox’s face went cold. Another voice beat him to replying. </p><p>“Mr Altirno,” Senator Chuchi said, crossing her arms, “How lovely to see you here. Is your stance on Clones and children universal on your planet? And Wintora had always struck me as such a lovely place. I’d hate for this to harm interplanetary relations.”</p><p>The aide paled and scrambled off, everyone else quite conspicuously returning to their food. Fox and Senator Chuchi sat next to them, Fox stealing a tuber fry from Leia’s plate. </p><p>“That was quite the little speech, there, kid,” he said, “Had my hair standing on end, for certain.”</p><p>“They should not speak of Clones like that,” Leia muttered, tucking herself closer to Jasper. Fox looked at him, and tilted his head. </p><p>“I think I can take you up on the whole apprenticeship thing,” he said, nodding to himself, “I trained Otis, you can’t be much harder.”</p><p>“Famous last words,” Jasper muttered, but Leia broke into a huge smile and hugged Fox suddenly. Jasper, despite his words, hugged him too. Fox had a somewhat odd look on his face when they let go, and Senator Chuchi was giggling at them. </p><p>Leia still had a huge smile on her face. Jasper resigned himself to years of peeling her off political opponents, but couldn’t keep a smile away from his face either. </p><p>The future was bright. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>About my picks for Luke and Leia’s Masters- everyone does Obi-wan and Ahsoka, I wanted to add some variety. <br/>Cal and Luke both love ponchos, their droids, climbing things, and adventure. They’re a match to keep the entire enclave up at night. <br/>Fox and Leia have the same negotiating style:”Insults are your first weapon, your fists are your second.”</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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